Beach resident collects over 1,300 egg cartons for Grant AME Church and Warden Woods food banks

Erin Horrocks-Pope June 01, 2020

Beach resident, Megan Stone, has been collecting egg cartons, with the help of her partner Martin, since the beginning of May in an effort to help busy, local food banks during Covid-19.

Stone originally began collecting after seeing an online post from Warden Woods Community Centre, calling on people to donate egg cartons so they could divide eggs from large slats into smaller, family-sized, containers.

“I wanted to do something to help,” Stone said. “So, I started collecting. I just put out a little sign and a bin.”

(The egg carton drop station in front of Stone's home at 31 Kimberley Ave. - Image submitted by Megan Stone.)

Stone has been overwhelmed by how popular the egg carton drive became and the amount of support from the community, collecting over 1,300 cartons in four weeks.

Shortly after Stone and her partner made their first drop-off to Warden Woods, she decided to find a smaller, more local food bank to share all the collected cartons with.

She called 211 and learned about the Grantfull Food and Fellowship Food Bank, located at 2029 Gerrard St. East, just east of Woodbine Avenue.

“I emailed to see if they need egg cartons and yes, they did,” Stone said. “We went and dropped them off. Everyone was appreciative and hands-on and wonderful.”

(Stone displays last week's collection of 388 egg cartons on May 27, 2020 before delivering to Grantfull Food Bank.. - Image submitted by Megan Stone.)

The Grantfull Food and Fellowship Food Bank is a ministry of the Grant African Methodist Episcopal Church and has been operating out of the Upper Beach community since 2016.

According to Loy Pinnock-Brown, the Director at Grantfull Food and Fellowship Food Bank, they have “always had challenges” to have enough egg cartons. Now, thanks to Stone’s collection drive, they don’t expect to have that problem for a long time.

Open every Wednesday between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. the Grantfull Food Bank serves over 150 families (270–300 people) every week according to Pinnock-Brown.

“We’ve increased by 30 per cent, the amount of clients (since Covid-19),” Pinnock-Brown said. “We do not turn away anyone. Anyone in need, we will serve.”

(Every Wednesday, volunteers at Grant AME pack boxes of food up for families and individuals who come to the food bank. - Image from Grantfull Food and Fellowship Food Bank's Facebook page.)

Originally serving the community from inside the Grant AME Church, the food bank was moved outside due to Covid-19 health and safety concerns.

According to Pinnock-Brown, Grantfull has been very blessed with the increase of community support over past months.

“Now that we’re serving people on the street, people are more aware of us,” Pinnock-Brown said. “The community has really stepped up.”

Like Stone, many Beach residents have risen to the challenge to support the Grantfull Food Bank, bringing donations, making monetary contributions and volunteering their time.

(A recent contribution to Grantfull from 6-year-old, Emma. - Image from Grantfull Food and Fellowship Food Bank's Facebook page.)

“It blows your mind, how people are willing to give and to help,” Pinnock-Brown said. “It just continues to blow my mind.”

Pinnock-Brown is hoping to receive PPE donations for volunteers and clients of the Food Bank, explaining each week she has to purchase masks and gloves, but "they're so hard to find", in addition to being expensive.

"We need to protect our frontline staff," Pinnock-Brown said. "The biggest items we need are masks, gloves and sanitizers. Reusable, washable masks, if people are able to make them and would like to donate them we would be happy to receive that."