Guests: Dorothy Evans, Joan Masson, Speaker Lee Soda, Agincourt Community Services Association
Announcements:
Gordon thanked Gerd, Frank Trudy, Sai-Foo and Peter for assisting getting the NS Rotary Club box from Baton Rouge. Peter added that there is an opportunity to fix up and clean out the Club Box and he asked for volunteers.
Rocco said Group 1 would work on it. Group 1 meeting is next Monday at 7:30 at Rocco’s house.
Jim Reinsburger joined Anna-Maria Korell’s Rotary Club in Calgary.
Sergeant at Arms:
David S watched the salmon run in Morningside Park also with his daughter.
Basil will be going back to Niagara on the Lake for more wine.
Frank missed taking pictures in Algonquin Park and he celebrated his birthday on the 11th.
Danny saw all of his 4 grandchildren over the last couple of weeks.
Mike was happy that he got his boat out of the water.
Peter Masson was happy to gather over the weekend for a beer flight (assorted beers) in the back-yard.
Speaker:
David Seemungal introduced Lee Soda, Managing Director at ACSA.
Lee Soda stated that ACSA has been on a wild ride for the last 7 months due to Covid-19. She shared phones ringing off the hook once schools were shut down and the issue of their doors possibly being closed. ACSA made the decision to stay open and focus on homelessness and food banks. The pivot response to going virtual was the right response however, not the optimal solution, as they are still missing people not accessing digital communication. They have lost a lot of people going through the cracks. They expect to stay this way for at least the next year.
Homeless program and foodbanks are overwhelmed. Food bank, in three days, serves five thousand individuals every week, 1150 households with up to 5 to 10 individuals living in each household.
The 10,000 sq ft Dorset Park food hub has now turned into a food depot. All of the entry level jobs in Scarborough are gone with restaurants being closed down along with other businesses. Food insecurity has skyrocketed. So, families are losing entry level employment opportunities and go to AGCS. People showing up also need other services. Lineups to get food go all the way 1911 Kennedy Rd to Progress Ave. Food is available only once a week but only provides 3 days of food making for a shortfall for the rest of the week. With the help pf Second Harvest, ACSA provides a better quality of food.
Families are now showing up at the Sheppard ACSA site with an increase of homeless people now coming into Scarborough. City of Toronto has rented hotel space to allow for social distancing that shelters couldn’t provide. There is a housing crisis in the City and there can’t be enough affordable housing built to address the crisis. The result is that homeless people are moving to the suburbs, such as 300 individuals living at the Delta Hotel at the 401 and Kennedy. The hotel does provide meals. The landscape of Scarborough has changed. And, that has changed how ACSA operates – they can’t let people inside yet. Lee said that we should welcome all people as our neighbours.
ACSA needs a warehouse to be able to accommodate the scale up that the Dorset Park site can address. They have found a 5 to 7,000 sq ft location in the same plaza. But need more operating resources and can’t do it on their own.
Daily Bread Food Bank has opened up pop-up food banks in Scarborough, but the numbers have not declined for ACSA. The problem is not about food supply, they are constantly receiving donations from people in the community. Their sustainability is dependent on funding from all three levels of government. All funding has a time limit and is precarious. So, while they carefully use the funds available, the worries are real.
Please see Lee's powerful presentation by clicking on the link below.
Announcements:
Sergeant at Arms:
Speaker: 
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