Local realtor Wally Meili has made regular donations of lentils to the food bank over the years, including hundreds of pounds on an annual basis around Christmas. In a time where COVID-19 has put additional stress on food donation groups all over the country, an extra helping hand seemed like the right thing to do.
Enter Moose Jaw pulse producer MidWest Grain, which was quick to donate four 50-pound bags of the legumes, which are considered some of the most nutritious on the planet – a single cup contains more than a quarter of the daily recommended value of protein, iron and magnesium along with half of the dietary fibre, all while providing a trim 392 calories.
But all that generosity created a bit of a problem, as Meili explained.
“Normally I’d give them a few big bags and they’d have a few volunteers to package them, but because of COVID, they’re down to minimum staff and haven’t been able to accept the volunteer labour,” he said.
That led to a plan that took care of things rather quickly and efficiently.
Enter Zarek and Akela Sand, next door neighbours to the Meili family. As members of the 40 Snowbirds Air Cadets, they’re more than familiar with donating their time to worthy causes, and when the chance came to help out Meili and the Food Bank, they were quick to jump on board.
“They’re two doors down from me and just great kids,” Meili said.
The Sand family took the bit of extra work in stride, quickly rolling through the project by bagging up the beans in Ziploc bags weighing around two pounds each.
“It was pretty nice, my family and I sat down and listened to some stand-up comedy,” said Zarek, adding that the stylings of Gabriel ‘Fluffy' Iglesias were their laughs of choice.
“It’s pretty good, it was fun to do,” added Akela. “It took us about an hour, half an hour, not long at all.”
Meili planned to deliver the lentils on Wednesday, and they’ll be part of the Food Bank’s hamper program in the near future.
