A retired contractor is leading by example. And, he’s asking others to do the same.
Harlen Schofield is using his time, contacts and resources to help the Matthew 25 Windsor and District Food Bank cater to the growing need in an area that has been hard hit by job loss in the last two years.
Most recently, Schofield organized a meat drive that brought in more than $800 worth of hamburger for Matthew 25. Schofield, along with contractors from Chandler Constructionand Swinamer’s Concrete, came up with $400 to purchase the beef knowing Central Home Improvement in Windsor would match whatever was raised.
He says it took one hour to raise $800 for meat. But, he knew it’d take a lot longer for one man to bag 400 pounds of ground beef on his own.
Schofield rallied some volunteers, including Hants West MLA Chuck Porter, food bank representatives and kind-hearted locals, to meet at the Hants County War Memorial Community Centre in Windsor March 6 to bag the hamburger.
“It’s really going to help because we have no meat at all to give out in our orders right now,” said food bank co-ordinator Cindy Loane, taking a short break from her bagging duties.
Loane says new clients are coming to the food bank for help on a daily basis, and Matthew 25 has more than 1,000 mouths to feed.
“This is terrific because I’ll be able to give families hamburger and there’s so much they can do with hamburger so I’m very thankful for all of the help.”
Schofield also managed to get several local contractors to work together to purchase more than 1,500 pounds of veggies for the food bank last month.
“With so many people losing work we want to try to get more drives like this happening.” - Harlen Schofield
“We’re helping our community get through tough times,” he said.
He’s hoping people will realize how easy it can be to launch a successful food drive, and perhaps start one of their own.
“With so many people losing work we want to try to get more drives like this happening.”
Schofield says a little East Coast generosity can go a long way in tough times. Neil McLellan, the manager of Central’s Windsor location, concurs.
“For me it’s just a pleasure to be associated with this group of people. The generosity of the people in this community is just overwhelming.”
