Each week, Cheryl Jones and a small team of staff and volunteers diligently prepare customized food packages for community members who come to the Nawash Food Bank on Tuesday afternoons. In partnership with The Salvation Army Wiarton Community Church in Ontario, the food bank serves the Neyaashiinigmiing First Nation, a community located approximately 20-25 kilometres northeast of Wiarton with limited job opportunities and amenities such as a grocery store.

“Each package typically provides for a family for one month, but during the COVID-19 pandemic, that didn’t always last and they wouldneed packages twice a month,” says Cheryl, who has worked as the Army’s senior program services worker (First Nations) for five years. Each package might include: canned goods, pasta, bread, bottled water, meat, vegetables, milk, eggs, toilet paper, tissue, cleaning supplies and even pet food. “We hope the packages bring life and energy to their lives and will be an encouragement and a blessing.”

Hope From Hopelessness

Cheryl, who lives on the Neyaashiinigmiing reserve, understands the needs of the community and the challenges of seclusion.

“There are a lot of tourists in the summer, so the camping park contributes funds but, aside from that, people fish for their livelihoods and hunt game that we survive on,” explains Cheryl. “The winter is the most difficult time for the community with bad weather, seasonal work and supply shortages.

“The Salvation Army has been helping our community from the very beginning and we’re thankful for their support.”

Before the Nawash Food Bank existed, Neyaashiinigmiing residents were travelling some distance to the Wiarton Food Bank to get food.

“They would get somebody to drive them for $20—a lot of money in 1994—to get $20 worth of food,” says Major Mary Millar, who joined The Salvation Army in November 1994. “Seventy percent of people in the community live in poverty, and the cost to get to a doctor’s appointment or other things was prohibitive.” After finding a space within the community and approaching the band, Major Mary helped launch the Nawash Food Bank in April 1995.

“It’s been a joy for me to see lives changed,” she says. “There is spring to the step and hope where there was hopelessness. I see this every day.”

Soup’s On

Years before Cheryl became part of the staff at The Salvation Army, she was working part-time in a clerical position at her church and would occasionally visit the food bank with her elderly mother.

“They would sometimes offer special services to seniors so I would take her there or pick something up for her.”

On her visits to the food bank, she noticed that many from the community would show up around lunch and that whenever staff opened a package of cookies or snacks, the snacks would disappear quickly because people were so hungry.

“I offered to do a soup kitchen, you know, like a pot of soup each time they did the food bank, and the Army welcomed that idea,” she says. “I saw there was a need, and that this was a way I could give back to my community.”

Cheryl ended up joining The Salvation Army on staff and played a role in helping services expand to community meals, clothing and household items.

“Prayer is such a huge part of my life.” CHERYL JONES

“She’s a joy to work with,” says Marie Keeshig, who has worked with Cheryl at the Nawash Food Bank since March 2019. “She has dedicated years of commitment, has the heart and goes the extra mile to provide the best for the community.”

Cheryl’s dream, however, is to help the Army secure its own building for a food bank. Prior to the pandemic, the food bank was located in a small room. Given the demands during COVID-19, the food bank is now located in the community centre, the largest building in the area, which has meant other activities cannot share the same space.

“During the pandemic, it’s been very difficult to do anything else other than provide food,” says Cheryl, who says they provided for 332 families in one month alone. “Once we start to downscale, we hope to work with the community on other programs such as the Pathway of Hope.” That program provides individualized support for participants to achieve short- and long-term goals, thereby addressing the root causes of poverty.

A New Purpose

Co-ordinating volunteers, filing paperwork, preparing food items, continually seeking and applying for funding, and answering daily calls from the community can be tiring work, but Cheryl’s faith in God gives her strength.

Growing up in her parents’ church, Cheryl followed the rituals of going to services, but didn’t accept their faith as her own. When she was 12 years old, her father died.

“I was sexually abused as a child and had rough teenage years,” she recalls. “There wasn’t a lot of protection and that’s when I started to get in trouble.” At 21, she got pregnant and had a son.

“I didn’t want to raise my son on my own in a life like I had, and I began to go back to church,” she continues. Cheryl attended several churches and finally found a home at a Pentecostal church. “I went to church my whole life, but it wasn’t until I started going to that church that I accepted the Lord as my Saviour. Then my life changed around.”

Cheryl finds purpose in her work, providing for and serving people with dignity. “When I came to The Salvation Army, I thought it was so perfect because we could pray at work, and prayer is s uch a huge part of my life.” Her 37-year-old son, Carmen, is also a believer and leads a community group called Nawash House of Prayer.

“When I look back and think of all we’ve been through, I’m so thankful,” says Cheryl. “I just pray I can continue to do God’s work however long I’m here because I do it all for Him.”

Melissa Yue Wallace is a journalism graduate and freelance writer who is passionate about helping people in need and encouraging the organizations that work tirelessly to care for them. Melissa lives in Richmond Hill, Ont., with her husband and twin children.

Photos: Washie Nadjiwan

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