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Volunteers devote their weekends to feeding hungry Brandonites BY TOM BATEMAN On Sunday, while the wind chill outside flirted with the 300 mark, a small but determined group did what they've been doing every week for four months, preparing the only free meal available to hungry Brandonites on Sunday and giving them a space to stay warm through the day. It started in October, when Bonnie Genaille realized a gap in what was available for hungry Brandonites. She started preparing soup and bannock every Sunday, and serving it to anyone who wanted it in Princess Park she called it Bannock in the Park. “I'd thought of doing this for many, many years I just never had the ... gumption,” she said. It was a family tragedy that eventually spurred her into action. On Sept. 30, 2012, her brother, Ron Genaille was killed in a tragic car accident. In September of this year, Bonnie decided to memorialize her brother through the weekly feast. “He had a giving heart, he would give the shirt off his back and I thought, ‘What a great way to remember him,’ to do something like this,” she said. Since then, she's been doing a lot of giving, and there's been a lot of people receiving. Each week, Bonnie and volunteers have prepared soup, bannock and care packages for as many people as they can convince to come to Princess Park. Things went well through the fall. Genaille said 50 to 60 people show up in Princess Park to eat. But as the weather turned cold, she knew she'd have to do more than just collect jackets, toques and mitts. She began looking for a space indoors, where she could prepare the meal and serve it while keeping her guests warm. The solution was the appropriately-named Park Community Centre on Louise Avenue and 15th Street. The industrial-sized kitchen fits her needs, and the Manitoba Metis Federation-Southwest Region has paid for the rent. Genaille, who works through the week as an educational assistant in the Brandon School Division, spends her Saturdays gathering ingredients and preparing for a big Sunday in the kitchen. Sundays start at about 9:30 a.m. One volunteer, Aline de Montigny, comes early each week to take care of the soup. Bannock, both baked and fried, is Genaille’s speciality. “I've even making bannock for many, many years ... my mom taught me,” she said. Thanks to other help from her daughters, Amy Lynn Chegus and a handful of volunteers, a hot meal is ready for whomever wants it near noon. Fruit, granola bars, coffee and tea is also available for the taking. Everything Genaille serves is funded by donation. Genaille said people from as far away as Souris and Minnedosa have made contributions. The Brandon Friendship Centre and Manitoba Metis Federation have also helped. Often, people start trickling in well before lunch is served. “We just tell them go ahead, play cards, visit — just stay warm, basically. A lot of these people are out in the cold because the stay warm thing doesn't open until seven in the evening. A lot of these people that are homeless, basically couch surfing sort of thing, they’ve really got no place to go,” she said. On Sunday, a fiddler helped lift the mood in the hall. Before leaving, Genialle outfits guests with a care package that includes toiletries and whatever else she can find for them. A clothes rack with winter wear is set up in the corner, free for the taking. Usually, things are cleaned up and she’s on her way home by about 3:30 p.m. But it’s not perfect. Genaille is worried that in the frigid cold, the hall is too far from downtown for many of those she wants to serve. ‘In the park we were doing 50 people, now it’s about 25 people,” she said. “I know for a fact there are more people out there. We've had people from Princess Towers, they are below the poverty line. We've been feeding them and giving them care packages. I've seen a few of them but not all of them.” Genaille said it’s getting difficult to haul the necessary ingredients and supplies back and forth to the community centre. Other needs, specifically supplies and ingredient she’s low on, are posted to the Bannock in the Park Facebook page (facebook.com/Bannock in-the-Park-511539739014919) Genaille said her project feels more serious as it matures. “It's a good feeling but to me now it’s something I know that has to be done, it’s a job. It’s a responsibility,” she said. One Sunday in November, she was short on volunteers and running behind schedule. “A personal friend of mine called, (she said) ‘There's like 20 people waiting at the park.’ It is (pressure) if things aren't running smoothly. You know these people have come to depend on you,” she said. So, there’s no end in sight. “I’m hoping that it will grow more — by growing I mean I'm hoping there's not a lot more homeless people— I hope we can enable and help them but I want to be there to help them and see people succeed. And being content, happy,” she concluded » tateman@brandonsun.com » Twitter: @tombatemann Bonnie Genaille works to try and bake bannock to distribute to the less fortunate members of the com munity at the Park Community Centre. Genaille has been the force behind Bannock in the Park. Together with family and friends, Genaille feeds roughly 25 people every Sunday since moving indoors because of the weather. (Bruce Bumstead/Brandon Sun Tanya Genaille, Sherice Clarkson and Shannon Clarkson help to prepare fruit to be served with traditional bannock and soup at the Park Community Centre on Sunday. (Bruce Bumstead/Brandon Sun)
Newspaper Details
Brandon Sun
Brandon, Manitoba, CA
Mon, Jan 11, 2016
Page 5
Full Page
Clipped by
Angela B.
