When Calgary Shows Up: Community Rallies to Support Seniors Facing Food Insecurity

There were bags of groceries, boxes of food and thousands of dollars in donations outside the ATCO Blue Flame Kitchen in Calgary. But there were also hugs and tears.

What began as a last-minute call for donations turned into an emotional show of support for seniors during a live food drive hosted by Global Calgary in support of Unison’s Thrive seniors food bank.

Calgarians were invited to make drive-by donations of food and money, and the community responded.
Local businesses and individuals, including Pete the Plumber, travel personality Leslie Keyter and Calgary Elite Roofing’s Robert LaPierre, were among those who contributed. By the end of the morning, thousands of dollars and a significant amount of food had been donated to help stock the shelves of the seniors food bank.

For some donors, the event was an eye-opening experience. Chanda Simington heard about the food drive on Global Calgary and decided she wanted to help. “I came because I didn’t know how great the need was,” she says. “I just felt it was something I needed to do to help out the seniors.” She went shopping and bought a large amount of food to donate.

For Simington, the thought of seniors struggling to afford groceries was difficult to accept.

“It hurts my heart. It breaks my heart in 1,000 pieces because seniors are the ones that suffer in the end,” she says. “The cost of living, the cost of everything is going up and the seniors get nothing.”

Her donation was about more than food. It was about doing something tangible to help.
“It warms my heart. It makes me feel really good and will continue to keep doing it,” she says.
Robert LaPierre, known as Robbie the Roofer, also came out to support the cause. He says his motivation comes in part from his deep appreciation for his grandparents and for the generation that came before him. “My grandparents were one of the best things I had in my life when they were around,” he says. “Those are the things you just don’t forget.”

LaPierre, who is Métis and owns an Indigenous business, describes older adults as “knowledge keepers.”
He says he often spends time with people older than himself because he wants to learn from them.
“Sometimes people say, ‘Robbie, you hang out with folks that are a little bit older than you. Did you ever wonder why you’re the youngest one there?’ It’s because I’m getting the knowledge from the last generation of how to do better.” For LaPierre, supporting seniors is also about remembering the sacrifices made by previous generations. “My grandad at 16 had forged his parents’ signature and he was off in World War II,” he says. “Some of the sacrifices that were made by the last generation, it’s something that you have to get back and you have to remember them.” He believes supporting seniors doesn’t always require a large financial contribution. Sometimes, it simply requires time. “To be forgotten in my mind, that’s a tragedy and it shouldn’t happen,” he says. “People in all walks of life value the five or 10 minutes you can spend with them. And you know what? Make the time.” Travel personality Leslie Keyter (The Travel Lady) says seniors can be particularly vulnerable when they are living on a fixed income, especially after the loss of a spouse.

She has encountered people she knew as active travellers who suddenly disappeared from her social circle, only to learn later that their circumstances had changed dramatically. “I might bump into them at the mall and they say, ‘Oh, my husband died’ or ‘My wife passed away’ and we are struggling,” she says.
Keyter says those conversations make her wonder how people in that situation are managing to pay for necessities.

“Can they afford groceries? Can they afford fuel for the car?” she asks. And there is another barrier: pride.

“Us seniors are proud. They don’t like to ask for help,” Keyter says. “That’s why we have to take the first step and do something for them.”

Leslie Horton, who helped organize the event, says she believes everyone has something they can contribute. “I don’t have money, so I can’t donate money, but I have a platform and I can use that platform for good,” Horton says. She describes herself as a conduit connecting people who need help with people who have the ability to help. She wasn’t sure what kind of response a last-minute food drive would receive. But she had faith in Calgary.

“I have the utmost faith in Calgarians,” she says. That faith was rewarded. The event brought out donors, volunteers and community members who wanted to be part of something bigger than themselves.

And, unexpectedly, it also brought plenty of emotion. “There were a lot of hugs and tears at this event,” Horton says. She says that response made sense when she thought about what seniors may be experiencing behind closed doors. “The fact that seniors are making some tough decisions every single day, that is heartbreaking,” she says. “When we all come together to help make that a bit better, our hearts grow bigger with every hug and every donation and every community connection we make.”

For Unison volunteer Debbie, the event was also a reminder that food insecurity can affect anyone.
“I’ve learned that people that need help are from all walks of life, from all cultures, all demographics,” she says. Sometimes, she says, people may need assistance for a short period. Other times, circumstances can make food insecurity a much longer-term problem. “You just don’t know when things are going to happen and you need a little extra help,” Debbie says. That may be the biggest lesson from the food drive.
Helping doesn’t necessarily require a grand gesture. It can be a bag of groceries. A donation. Volunteering for a few hours. Or simply taking five minutes to sit and talk with someone who may be lonely.

The Thrive seniors food bank exists because there are older adults in Calgary who need that help. And on this morning, the community answered the call. The donations will help put food on seniors’ tables. But the hugs, conversations and tears offered something else: a reminder that they have not been forgotten.

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