Welcome to Tender Mercies Food Pantry, one of the 60+ agency members you help to support neighbours facing hunger across Mississauga.
Darnell Rose smiles as she pulls fresh fruits and vegetables from neat bins and tucks them into a hamper.
“I like helping people,” she says. She’s been working to support people facing food insecurity since her youth in England. And she’s been at the heart of Tender Mercies, the food pantry run by the Mississauga Seventh-day Adventist Church, since 2020.
“When I first started, we got by on church donations. But when the pandemic hit, the need exploded.”
“We used to be open two hours a week. Now, we’re up to eight hours,” Darnell says.
To help meet the rising need, Tender Mercies reached out to Food Banks Mississauga and joined our agency network.
“We’re really grateful,” she shares. “We couldn’t do it without Food Banks Mississauga and the community beside us.”
With your generous support, Tender Mercies was also able to purchase fridges and freezers to help safely store fresh produce including eggs, meat, and dairy.
“I also took a course on food safety and food handling that was offered by Food Banks Mississauga,” Darnell says. “That really helped us, to make sure we’re serving safe, fresh food.”
Darnell and her colleagues are motivated by the people they help. One of their stories will always stay with her.
“She was one of a group of refugees staying at a nearby hotel. We were there serving them breakfast and lunch at the time.
She was pregnant. She was alone, and she didn’t have anything for her baby.
The whole community came together for her. Not just food, but bottles, diapers, baby clothes—even a stroller! She was in tears. She couldn’t believe she had neighbours who would do all that for her.”
