HEFC Heroes May 2025: St. Thomas the Apostle Anglican Church

By Lynn Sherwood

When Heron Emergency Food Centre was established by a group of five churches in Alta Vista, back in 1987, one of the founding board members was Jean Thompson, who represented St. Thomas the Apostle Anglican Church. Jean passed away this past February at the age of 105. Rev. Tim Kehoe of St. Thomas recalls that she was always very proud of her role in helping to create HEFC. Her commitment to addressing the problem of food insecurity through concrete action remains a part of the mission of St. Thomas, a major supporter of HEFC in many ways, and our Hero for May.

Members of St. Thomas brought donations to HEFC in April; (L-R) Renee Larocque, Rev. Tim Kehoe, Cathy Munroe, Michele Ngoube (HEFC volunteer), Babs Dunstan, Juan Valdares (HEFC volunteer).

This spring in the first week of April, St. Thomas visited our facility at 1480 Heron

Road, bringing donations of nonperishable food, and presenting a cheque for $2,000,

raised through ticket sales to their International Food Fair on March 8. Parishioners brought

food every week for the month of March, piling it in a pyramid in front of the high altar,

and collecting a total of three hundred cans of food. These donations are most gratefully

received at HEFC, especially since we have been managing a reduction in food supplied by

the Ottawa Food Bank.

St. Thomas also supports HEFC through various other means. It has transformed their front lawn from grass to garden plots to address food insecurity. Seventeen of these plots, tended by parishioners, donate all their produce to HEFC, while community members who rent the remaining plots also donate one tenth of their produce, through their agreement with the church, to HEFC. This fresh produce is very much appreciated by our clients. In addition, every September St. Thomas supports us by hosting our fundraiser, the Step Up and Step Out to Stop Hunger Walkathon. St. Thomas also supports local food efforts by hosting the Alta Vista market, where HEFC volunteers are present during one Saturday in August in the booth provided by the Alta Vista Community Association.

HEFC is managing relatively well despite a 30 per cent reduction in food supplied

by the Ottawa Food Bank. This is the result of the wonderful support we receive from

this community, grounded in the continued commitment of local churches. The vision of

folks like Jean Thompson, who represented St. Thomas the Apostle in addressing the food

insecurity crisis caused by the recession in the 1980s, has served us all well. The work that

she and other members of the faith community started has continued and has benefited, and will continue to benefit, many thousands of people. What a great legacy! We thank you all and ask that you continue to support our work.

For the complete article, download the Vistas News, May 2025 edition from their website: https://vistas-news.ca/