PCFB's HISTORY
PCFB was born out of the crisis of the failure of its predecessor, Saint Phillips Pantry in November of 2007. When it was learned that the church run organization had existed for nearly twenty five years was closing due to lack of sustainable funding, a group of committed volunteers immediately responded by launching a campaign to save the food bank.
The response from the community to our impending closure was tremendous. Representatives of all three levels of government came to our aid. Saint Francis Table, a highly regarded Parkdale "Restaurant for the Poor" immediately offered us their resources and in many ways became a partner and model for our organization. The Daily Bread Food Bank actively assisted us with staff, resources, and logistical help to see us through our start up period. Local artists and musicians came to our aid, holding seventeen fund raising events for the Food Bank in a little more than the one month leading up to Christmas. Local community activists offered us advice, help in raising funds, and direct involvement in shaping our approach to the work.
Very quickly, the Food Bank evolved as a community based, grass roots organization encouraging the input of those who used it, our volunteers, and many people in the community committed to principals of social justice and the elimination of poverty.
In March of 2008, the Food Bank became incorporated as a non-profit organization and the work of forming a strong Board of Directors began. This was soon accomplished, and we assembled a group of highly qualified people with expertise in governance, the law, accounting, finance, social justice, and community outreach.
The food bank has thus far been successful at meeting our financial requirements though the work of assuring sustainable funding is an ongoing priority. At this stage, we are also hoping to find a more suitable home for the food bank, and to fund the costs of the project. The assistance of the community, corporate, union, and other organizations is essential to continuing our work of feeding those in need in the Parkdale Community.
