Michael Maidment appears calm and collected despite working around the clock for the past several weeks. The executive director of the Ottawa Food Bank kept hectic hours for much of November and December on food drives and fundraising events to feed the capital’s hungry.
More than 51,000 people turn to the food bank for help every month. That adds up to hundreds of thousands of cans of tuna, jars of peanut butter, loaves of bread and fresh fruit and veggies. But Maidment, who’s only been at the helm of the charitable organization for 16 months, isn’t daunted by having to collect and distribute these mega volumes of food.
“I had a manager who used to call me Spock,” he said when asked to explain his ultra-calm demeanour in the throes of the stressful holiday rush. Flashing his boyish dimples, he quipped, “If your house is on fire, do you want someone who freaks out or someone who puts it out?”
Not even one recent forecast of 25 centimetres of snow rattles him. Growing up in Grand Falls, Nfld., he recalls one winter morning waking up to 90 cm of the white stuff, forcing he and his younger brother to crawl out a window to dig out the front door and help their dad find the car buried in the driveway.
A lifelong member of the Salvation Army church, Maidment, 40, was taught from an early age about helping those in need. His grandmother, whom he accompanied to church every Sunday as a young boy, was an active volunteer and devoted hours to the Salvation Army’s annual Red Shield fundraiser around the holidays.
“Neighbour helping neighbour — that’s just what you do in a small town,” says the Kanata father of two, who worked for about seven years for the Salvation Army before being hired by the food bank in August 2013. “That upbringing set me up for this job. … What we do as an organization, we did as a small community.”
Related
The food bank just operates on a much, much larger scale.
Last year alone, $9.6 million worth of food was donated and delivered to its warehouse on Michael Street in Gloucester. About 250 tons — the equivalent in weight to 55 elephants — are distributed to more than 140 member agencies every month.
“What strikes me is how generous people are,” says Maidment, who credits a network of corporate sponsors, private donors and volunteers for helping the food bank meet the growing public demand. “(Former CTV anchor) Max Keeping always said Ottawa is the most generous community. He’s right.”
But as food costs, housing prices and hydro and property tax bills continue to climb, more families, single parents, seniors on a fixed income and new Canadians will be forced to lean on the food bank for assistance in 2015. Does Maidment have a plan of attack to meet these mounting pressures?
“Macro thinking. I tell my staff it’s seeing the issue from 30,000 feet,” says Mr. Cool, who confesses to lying awake at night doing “a lot of strategic planning.”
At the top of his to-do list is increasing the volume of organic produce the food bank’s Community Harvest program grows on donated land in Stittsville and expanding the variety of nutritious foods available to clients. He’d also like to implement a more efficient system for sorting through the mountain of grocery store bins in the warehouse and continue to grow the food bank’s surplus revenue fund so extra food can be purchased when donations typically dwindle between January and March.
Maidment was looking forward to some quiet time over the holidays with his wife Leanne, daughter Emma, 12 and son Gabriel, 9. But feeding the hungry will not be far from his thoughts.
“I feel privileged to do this job. It’s a very rewarding role,” said Maidment from his bright office where a collection of Starbucks mugs — “I love my Americano” — and a CFL football signed by Redblacks quarterback Henry Burris, are displayed on a shelf near his desk. “I get to feed people … it makes the hours and stress really worth it.”
The Ottawa Food Bank distributes 250 tons of food a month.
By the numbers
30: Years the Ottawa Food Bank has been operating
51,613: The number of people who use the food bank every month
21,000 square feet: The size of the food bank warehouse in Gloucester
$9.6 million: How much food was donated to the food bank last fiscal year (Oct. 1, 2013 to Sept. 30, 2014)
250 tons: The amount of food — the weight equivalent of 55 elephants — distributed by the food bank in a month
375,060: How many cans of tuna distributed last year
$83,512: How much the food bank spent on peanut butter last year
73,467 pounds (33,324 kg): The yield of vegetables and fruit grown on donated land in Stittsville last year
3,000: The number of volunteers who help deliver, pick up and sort food, answer phones and work special events
140: Number of agencies the food bank supports
