Director of the Sackville Food Bank Heather Patterson received a startling text just after six in the morning yesterday.

By 6:30AM she was on the phone with the food bank’s landlord, Bill Tapley, who was devastated to tell her that the building had completely flooded in the night.

The food bank, which had just been renovated with new floors and a fresh paint job, had around two inches of water all over the floor.

At the time of the phone call with CHMA, Patterson had not yet visited the premises but she said the source of the flooding was a water main break.

She was nervous to go in and take a look at the damage, as “two inches of water would be serious in any building.” Her big concern was also for clients, as Wednesday is the food bank’s pick-up day.

Patterson said that “we sure don’t want them going hungry just because of this,” and thankfully nobody will.

She updated CHMA by email and reassured the public that the damage “could have been so much worse.”

The food bank received a large donation from the Main Street Baptist Church, which thankfully was spared in the flood.

The building’s landlord is taking care of the restoration process, and Patterson is hopeful that the food bank will be up and running again as early as next Wednesday.

The board met last night to discuss how they will get food to affected clients in the meantime.

Patterson says that multiple food banks in surrounding areas have reached out, along with a number of concerned citizens, so more help is standing by if they need it.

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