The food bank run by Chief Peguis School in North Kildonan is a beacon of hope for the many Ukrainian families who have settled in the area. It started as a breakfast and lunch program serving up to 50 students a day, but the program has expanded as more Ukrainian families have settled in the area and their children have been able to attend a nearby Ukrainian-English bilingual school.
Principal Doug Nowicki, along with Olena and Anna Gordienko, organize twice-monthly drives to collect food from Starbucks, Shoppers Drug Mart, Sobeys Warehouse, Sobeys, Safeway, Maple Leaf Foods and Hildegard Bakery. Nowicki says he first reached out to Second Harvest Food Rescue, a national organization that works to improve food access so that everyone has good food, regardless of economic situation. He estimates that his team has collected $350,000 worth of food, which they have distributed equally between Ukrainian families and school feeding programs.
Hard work pays off. Through Second Harvest, Nowicki receives notifications about donations. He responds immediately and accepts the donation. He always follows up, and receives additional offers. This benefits the dozens of families who come looking for help on a typical evening and leave with bread, cereal, fruit, nutritional bars and snacks.
Photo: Tony Zercha
Chief Peguis School Principal Doug Nowicki, along with Anna and Olena Gordienko, run a food bank twice a month for Ukrainian refugee families in the North Kildonan area.
Some of the children attend Chief Peguis School and clearly have a strong bond with Nowicki: They greet each other by name and introduce their families, and one even asks a relative to show them around the school.
The Pavlovas are regular participants. Sofia Pavlova, 13, said she fled Odessa with her parents after the war began.
“Every morning I woke up and smelled the ocean.”
After a few months in Poland, the Pavlova family came to Winnipeg. Sophia attended Chief Peguis High School for a year before going on to River East College. She said the food bank played a key role in helping the family settle into their new home.
“We can eat the food we make here for a month, which saves us a lot of money,” Pavlova says.
The stories are heartbreakingly sad. Nowicki met with psychologists, lawyers, hairdressers and engineers. They started from scratch in restaurants and did manual labor (if they could find work). Everyone was grateful for every opportunity, and no one complained.
Nowicki clearly cares about everyone who comes through the store, and the feeling is mutual: Last March, they surprised him for his birthday.
“I walked into the school and there were about 60 or 70 Ukrainians there,” he recalled. “They started singing in Ukrainian, and then they blindfolded me, took me into the hall, and gave me a huge buffet of Ukrainian food.”
Pavlova, a talented artist, gifted Nowitzki with portraits of her children for his birthday, which he proudly displays.
On May 20, the family received even more gifts after learning Nowicki would be transferring to Munroe Middle School next fall (leaving the food bank's fate uncertain). There were many words of gratitude and hugs, as well as tears. Many wondered what they would do without the food bank.
Nowicki joked that food banking has become her hobby, dedicating 20 hours a month to it and turning her home into a warehouse.
“It feels good knowing that we're helping people in need. This is a huge community that needs help,” Nowicki said. “They've been displaced and their lives have been destroyed.”
Tony Zercha
East Kildonan Community Correspondent
Tony Zerucha is East Kildonan's community correspondent. Email him at tzerucha@gmail.com.
Read full biography
Our newsroom depends on an increasing readership to power our journalism, so if you're not already a paying subscriber, please consider taking out a subscription.
Our newsroom relies on readers like you to power our journalism, and we appreciate your support.
