Now, truth be told, I don't really know Bob very well. When I worked at the Wellington Times for a brief spell a few years ago, I associated Bob mainly with his work as a chef tester with Nestle Canada Inc. up on Douglas Road in Trenton. As I recall, Bob's work had the added benefit for us at the paper of his writing a recipe column. I also recall Linda temporarily purloining Bob's copy of Rick Warren's The Purpose Drive Life: What On Earth Am I Here For? figuring I'd could have it read and returned to her before Bob wondered where his reading material had vanished.
Linda worked for years as an advertising rep for the Wellington Times -- first for Gord Dancey, who started the paper in 1992, and later Rick Conroy and Kathleen Sabyan, the current owners. I well remember her making the first posters for The Storehouse back in the fall of 2006 and posting them in the window at 269 Main Street, telling Rick the paper was going to get behind it. Even before the food bank officially opened, Linda would tell me about the hidden face of poverty among the elderly in Prince Edward County -- who often didn't drive any longer, if they indeed had at one time, and had no real public transit options at that time in an overwhelmingly rural county. The Picton United Church County Food Bank on Chapel Street might as well have been on another planet in terms of access for many Wellington seniors. Linda was also delivering coats to them, saying that with the high cost of heating bills, many of them were quite literally shivering in their homes in the depths of winter. But Linda, of course, knew of what she spoke. She had walked the walk and been there herself as a single mother for eight years. “"I had gone without meals numerous times so my children could eat. Someone brought me a box of food and the despair just lifted. I got hope and was able to go on. Now with the support of the community we can do the same for others,” she said last May when Bob and her were recognized with the Ruth Burrows Volunteer of the Year Award through Volunteer and Information Quinte their work launching The Storehouse, which they did out of their home initially before securing the Niles Street space at Wellington Pentecostal Church, which they attend. Things being what they are, I not only worked with Linda at the Wellington Times, but I also happened for a time to live right across the street at 56 West St. from the Wellington Pentecostal Church and The Storehouse food bank. It wasn't unusual to see Linda delivering much-needed goods from my living room window.
For more information, or to donate, to The Storehouse food bank, call (613) 399-1450. To make a monetary donation, make cheques payable to: The Storehouse Foodbank, P.O. Box 441, Wellington, Ontario, K0K 3L0.
Linda asks that everyone keep Bob in their prayers in the days ahead.
Luke 6:20-26
20 "And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said: "Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. 21 "Blessed are you that hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. "Blessed are you that weep now, for you shall laugh. 22 "Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you and revile you, and cast out your name as evil, on account of the Son of man! 23 Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets. 24 "But woe to you that are rich, for you have received your consolation. 25 "Woe to you that are full now, for you shall hunger. "Woe to you that laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. 26 "Woe to you, when all men speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets."
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