The Sackville Food Bank has found a new, temporary home after a flood forced it to move out of its current space at 9B Willow Lane.

To hear this story as reported on Tantramar Report, click here:

Food bank president Heather Patterson says the group was able to move in Monday morning to 21 Bridge Street, right beside the Black Duck Cafe, courtesy of an invitation from cafe owners Al Barbour and Sarah Evans.

“We’ll probably be a month before we can move back into our normal space,” says Patterson. “So Alan and Sarah have given us the storefront for as long as we need it, bless their hearts. I don’t know what we would have done without them.”

Al Barbour says once he heard about the flood (while listening to Meg Cunningham on Tantramar Report), he thought immediately of the empty storefront next to the Black Duck.

“It’s just sitting there empty, full of fridges and freezers,” says Barbour. “So we just inquired if they needed a space… We offered it up and they accepted it. And they’ll be there until they can go back to the other space.”

Patterson says the Black Duck space is a bit smaller than the food bank’s permanent location, but with two freezers and two fridges there, it’s a “wonderful solution” to the rather immediate problem they faced.

The Willow Lane location flooded due to a water main break last Wednesday morning, forcing the food bank to cancel its regular pick up day and go into emergency recovery mode.

Happily, the organization was able to do some distribution on Thursday of last week. “We were able to give out food to about 20 people,” says Patterson, “and have it delivered to some as well. So yeah, it was less than ideal, but better than nothing.”

Insurance will cover repairs, minus a deductible, says Patterson. and Food Depot Alimentaire will be sending more than usual to help the organization recover their losses.

“People have been so generous,” says Patterson. “We’ve had very generous donations. And we’ve had people stopping with food and other people asking us when they can come to drop off some food.”

Some people walking past 21 Bridge Street on Monday morning even chipped in with loading boxes and shovelling snow, as the group moved into its new, temporary digs.

And Patterson has especially kind words for Al Barbour and Sarah Evans. “It’s such a generous donation, and so kind of them to do that for us,” she says. “It’s amazing.”

It doesn’t sound like it was a tough decision for Barbour and Evans.

“The food bank is a really important part of Sackville,” says Barbour, “so it’s really important to give it a space, so that it can continue to serve the citizens.”

Barbour makes a point of adding a shout out to local news. (We swear we didn’t pay him.)

“I think it just shows how important it is to have a local news gathering and delivery service like CHMA radio, like the news,” says Barbour. “Otherwise, we wouldn’t have known about this, and we wouldn’t have been able to offer up a space.”

The Sackville Food Bank is a registered charitable organization and accepts donations through Canada Helps.