At the beginning of the COVID pandemic, the dining rooms of shelters across the province closed to meet public health regulations. These restrictions limited the shelters’ clientele to a regular food supply, and prompted two women in the Beaches are of Toronto to launch a volunteer profram providing sandwiches to shelters across the city. They called themselves the Sandwich Sisters.
Bethany resident Jane Berlin moved to the area from Toronto just as the pandemic took hold. Looking for a way to connect with her new community, she approached the organizers and established the first “pod” of sisters outside Toronto. She began with a group in the Bethany area who prepared sandwiches and other snacks for delivery to One Roof Community Centre once a week. Now in its fourth year, the group includes 200 volunteers in Bethany, Millbrook and Peterborough who provide sandwiches to the shelter four days a week, joining hundreds of other pods across Canada providing tangible support to those less fortunate.
It may have begun as a Covid relief program, but Jane explains that the need for regular meals continues. The shelter that distributes the sandwiches recently moved from St. John’s Anglican Church to a new location at the former Trinity United Church on Reid St. in Peterborough now owned by the Peterborough Poverty Reduction Network. The shelter operates as a non-profit under the name One City Peterborough. .The Trinity Community Centre operates as a low-barrier, harm-reduction site, providing a minimum-barrier space for individuals who are marginalized and/or unsheltered in the City of Peterborough, through the provision of two new programs: A daytime drop-in program, and a winter overnight program which are funded through a 3-year service agreement with the City of Peterborough. There is no referral process to access either program, which both operate on a first-come, first-served basis. Program staff will work to support those who are unable to access services (due to capacity limits, temporary restrictions, etc.) through collaboration with other One City programs and community partners. The overnight program is intended primarily for individuals who are unhoused, 18+ years of age, and unable to access the current shelter system. Their goal is to work in partnership with a wide range of organizations and service providers, to develop a collaborative hub approach for guests to access and navigate the services they need to support their wellbeing. Because the current kitchen does not meet Industrial standards, they are finding other ways to offer regular meals, and one of those is through the Sandwich Sister volunteer program.
The Bethany and Millbrook Sandwich Sister groups are looking to recruit more help. Each “sister” prepares two loaves of sandwiches and tosses in extras such as carrot sticks, cookies or other treats once a week. Millbrook members drop off their donations on Thursday mornings at the Millbrook Farm and Pet Supply store beside the LCBO, and the Bethany group delivers on Monday to coolers placed at the end of Jane’s driveway just north of town.
As Jane explains, “A sandwich is just two pieces of bread and a filling, but for the ones on the receiving end, it represents memories of happier days gone by. It’s comforting to them to know that someone has taken the time and cares.”
The group is always looking for new members. If you would like to contribute to this program, please contact Jane at sandwichsistersmb@gmail.com. KG
