Volunteers of the Queens County Food Bank celebrated the unveiling of their new walk-in freezer on Friday. Photo: Evan Taylor

Volunteers at the Queens County Food Bank celebrated the unveiling of their new walk-in freezer on Friday, which will vastly improve their frozen storage capacity.

The food bank regularly serves between 400-500 households per month, though previously they have been forced to deny donations made directly at the facility due to a lack of storage. With the addition of the freezer they hope that will no longer be the case and they will be able to receive and distribute more frozen products.

The freezer also will make things easier for the volunteers who work at the food bank, as previously all frozen goods were stored in chest freezers that often required volunteers to dig to the bottom in order to find.

The new freezer was made possible thanks to a $45,000 grant from Food Banks Canada, which was sponsored by Loblaws Canada, who are also one of the food bank’s largest contributors.

Queens County Food Bank Chair Shelly Panczyk explained during the unveiling that this is the latest piece of new infrastructure they were able to purchase thanks to an increase in grants made available to food banks since the pandemic, which also coincided with an increase in food bank usage rates.

Panczyk says the Queens County Food Bank has also seen a surge in demand since the pandemic, with more families struggling to afford food as the prices for everyday goods continue to rise.

The food bank has about 40-50 volunteers and Panczyk was quick to give them thanks for their continued efforts in supporting the community, “We see what it means to people, we get hugs, we get kisses and thank yous all because these people appreciate having something in their cupboards for the week and none of that would be possible without the hard work of all the people who support us,” Pancyzk said.

The Queens County Food Bank distributes food weekly on Tuesday and if you are in need you can drop by, fill out an intake form and leave with nutritious food on the same day.