Tradition provides staff members a volunteer day to spend at a local organization.  Time to learn about them, serve with them and present them with a $1,000. Cheque.

I spent March 26 at the House of Blessing in Stratford.  I learned about the various programs that they perform.  The main one is the food bank, but they do operate other programs as well.  These programs include:

• Welcome to the World Baskets – a baby shower in a hamper for caring for new babies​
• Off to School Smiling – a brand new backpack and school supplies for school-aged children​
• Christmas Toy Program – parents and grandparents come in and choose gifts for the children in their lives
• Fresh Start Program – new supplies for starting over including work wear and steel-toed boot​s
• Emergency Support for People Living with Insecure Housing – customized support to individuals who are living in unique living conditions (homeless, lacking cooking facilities)

In the morning, time was spent picking up food from a few grocery stores.  We then took the food back to weigh it and classify the different items received.  I moved on to the sorting area and each item was put in different bins based on what the item was and the best before date.

In the afternoon, we delivered food hampers to some people living in Stratford.  After we returned, time was spent organizing the food by best before dates.

I enjoyed working with Joanne, Chris, Serena, Reg (who is a Tradition policyholder), Steve and Jake.  They have a great group of staff and volunteers who do great work for the community.  I would encourage anyone interested to get involved by either volunteering or by donating.