Founders´ Story
The Power Of Three Women From Three Countries
What happens when you take three women from three different North American countries and put them together in a time of crisis? They created FoodBank Lakeside!
In the spring of 2020, at the very beginning of the pandemiec, Glorine Barnhardt, Christine Philipson and Paola De Watterlot met each other in an online Facebook meeting. The idea of FoodBank Lakeside was born. Within days, a dozen volunteers joined to help organize and distribute food to the most affected families with much-needed relief. The first few volunteers to jump on board were Larry Barnhardt, Donald Stordahl, Mark Dansson, Patricia Klauer, Marsha Walz Gardner, Feliza Ornelas, Monica Gutierrez and Leissa Gebert.
The call for social distancing by local authorities created their first challenge. Knowing they had to do things differently, FBL established relationships with local grocery outlets (abarrotes) in Ajijic and San Antonio Tlayacapan to purchase non-perishable food in bulk. This included rice, beans, pasta, oats, oil, milk, eggs and sugar. The food was packaged into portions sufficient for a family of four for a week. Additional items such as bath soap, laundry soap and tissue paper were added.
To minimize the risk of spreading COVID-19, families were scheduled to meet a volunteer at the abarrotes at a specific time to pick up their food. Each community was set up with a Local Coordinator who is Mexican, from the neighborhood, and knows everyone. They work with Team Liaisons who help with picking up and delivering the despensas. Within one week, 79 families from Ajijic and San Antonio Tlayacapan had received the first despensas. During the second week, FBL expanded its reach to support existing programs providing despensas in Santa Cruz, San Nicolás, Mezcala, San Pedro Itzicán, and their surrounding areas. Partnerships were formed with other organizations to expand their reach, such as Poco a Poco, the Pet Food Bank and BOGO, a fresh produce delivery service.
After a few months of operation, FBL recognized the need was far greater than what had been created by the COVID-19 pandemic. Many families had been suffering from food poverty long before. “According to the UN Hunger Report, hunger is the term used to define periods when populations are experiencing severe food insecurity—meaning that they go for entire days without eating due to lack of money, lack of access to food, or other resources.” (https://www.actionagainsthunger.org/world-hunger-facts-statistics)
As with any young organization, especially those built on volunteers and donations, FBL went through some growing pains in its first five months. It was becoming increasingly evident that not only was COVID likely to be an issue for many months ahead, there had been a need to combat food poverty in our community even before the impetus of COVID created the foodbank. In October 2020, FBL hit a crisis stemming from declining donations and found itself with only enough funds to operate for two weeks. An urgent call was made to the local community and they stepped up! Within a couple weeks, incoming donations made October one of the biggest donation months and the crisis was avoided.
Nearly going out of business in October 2020, caused the leadership team to direct their focus to the future of the foodbank. It was crucial to get feedback from the local community and a survey was conducted among all donors. The primary question was should FoodBank Lakeside continue? The overwhelming response was YES!
Since the results from the community survey in October 2020, the infrastructure of FoodBank Lakeside has grown and solidified to promote the financial health of the organization as we continue to support those families in need. The need continues to grow. More volunteers from all walks of life and areas of expertise have joined. In addition to the Leadership Team, there are also separate teams of volunteers for Operations, Marketing, Fundraising, Administrative, Finance, and Volunteer Management. The accounting system has recently undergone a major upgrade making budgeting and projections much easier. Marketing materials have been created and we now have a growing presence within the community. Our Strategic Planning process addresses the vision and mechanisms under which consistent and continued growth can be achieved.
During the last four months since October, the infrastructure of Foodbank Lakeside has grown and solidified to promote the financial health of the organization so we can continue to support those families in need. The need continues to grow. More volunteers from all walks of life and areas of expertise have joined. In addition to the Leadership Team, there are also separate teams of volunteers for Marketing/Fundraising, Accounting, Organizational Development and Despensa Management. The accounting system has recently undergone a major upgrade making budgeting and projections much easier. Marketing materials have been created and we now have a growing presence within the community. Organizational development is considering the vision and mechanisms under which consistent and continued growth can be achieved.
As of late 2023, FoodBank Lakeside has distributed over 28,960 despensas in eight lakeside communities, feeding over 580 families – close to 2,500 needy individuals – each month. In addition, our partnership with CreSer and Comedor de Banco de la Ribera allows us to feed midday meals five days a week to over 500 children and elderly in the east lakeside villages, through the Kids Kitchens and Community Kitchens programs. We also provide special despensas for those who struggle with kidney disease.
Even as COVID eventually leaves our daily lives, the need to combat food poverty here at Lakeside will remain. With the support of our generous donors, FoodBank Lakeside is dedicated to making a difference. Neighbors Helping Neighbors is not just our motto, it is our mission.
This all began with three women from three different countries who saw a need and wanted to do something about it.