Full Blown Retreat

Life at the London Food Bank hasn't been easy by any measure.  With the numbers of families we assist up over 20% from this time last year (over 3,000), the challenges facing our staff and board are daunting. The raw emotions faced by staff, volunteers and especially by those coming for assistance fly under the radar screen of what most politicians talk about up here when they discuss the severe recession, they are nevertheless the kind of realities faced by thousands of NGOs, non-profit and charitable groups across this vast country. They are there and they are real.With such pressures in mind, I suggested that the key staff from the London Food Bank come to Ottawa this past weekend for a special retreat focusing on teambuilding for the next difficult few months and also for some strategic planning for how we might deal with upcoming challenges. We began on Friday and finished up on Sunday at noon. They came to Question Period on Friday and wondered why development aid to Africa is being cut, why we as politicians behave as we do in the House, and is it always this cold in Ottawa?I've stayed on as co-director of the London Food Bank (voluntary) and I know my staff well, but I could sense their apprehension at what the future might hold. London is near the centre of automotive parts and vehicle construction industry. The decline of the industry has brought on significant increases in food bank usage. If our numbers are elevated now, what will happen when Employment Insurance runs out for workers? Surely many of them will be at our doors.One MP said to me three weeks ago that it seemed as though this current recession didn't seem as bad as projections said it would be. I tried to patiently wait out his disconnected observations, but I couldn't help wondering how he would feel if he actually volunteered at his own food bank for a time, or even if he was one of those workers now seeking employment in the midst of the worst economic time since World War Two.These are the realities of our current time. Four hundred thousand people have lost their jobs just in the last six months, with many more to come. EI is hardly capable under its present construct to handle the burgeoning numbers seeking assistance. If politicians opt to ride this thing out in hopes of a better day without themselves seeking to understanding what these struggling Canadians are going through, then it's no wonder we haven't come to grips with proper solutions yet.I was in a meeting with someone for the Secretary General's office at the United Nations concerning the African development aid cuts when I saw the food bank staff checking out at the desk and loading up the van. Excusing myself for a few moments, I rushed up to them to thank them for their hard and important work. They moved forward as one, hugging me in gratitude that they had been asked to this important city and received some consolation and direction in the process. Would that the House of Commons had their same breadth of understanding and sympathy of spirit.