How Winnipeg businesses help Harvest secure futures for people

Winnipeg Harvest has always been known as a food bank, but these days it's also helping people secure employment with the help of some dedicated local businesses.

The food bank offers job training programs for its clients in skills ranging from safe food handling to computer diagnostics.

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Roughly 1,000 Harvest clients and volunteers have taken part in the training programs last year alone, according to officials.

"My goal, really, is to help people like, to educate them, give them the appropriate direction to take different courses that we offer at Winnipeg Harvest," said Arvind Naran, the food bank's training and job placement co-ordinator.

"The end result, really, is to find a job placement and give them hope."

Harvest has also formed partnerships with tradespeople and companies like Humphrey Window Products.

Humphrey general manager Greg Bodnarchuk says he was in a fundraising golf tournament in support of Winnipeg Harvest last July when he heard about food bank clients who were volunteering their time there, even though they were out of work, and enrolling in training programs.

"As an employer, you know, you're always looking for good people and when people donate their time back and they're unemployed, I think that says a lot about their character," Bodnarchuk said.

"So for us, we love hiring good people."

4 people hired

Within weeks, Bodnarchuk and Naran lined up interviews with Winnipeg Harvest clients and volunteers who had been identified as potential candidates for four separate job openings at Humphrey.

The company hired the four people,all but one of them in full-time positionswith benefits included.

The employees include Praveen Ravindran, who came to Canada from India and now works as a machine operator.

"I had to survive, so [this is] the first time I'm doing this machine operating thing," he said.

"I'm a professional accountant so I have never did a job like this."

Ravindran came to Winnipeg just over a year ago to join his wife and family, but he could not secure the accreditation needed to continue practising accounting here.

The family learned about Winnipeg Harvest and started relying on it for food hampers.

Also working at Humphrey with the help of Winnipeg Harvest is Kiran Khokhai, who cleans PVC windows in the factory.

Khokhai, who previously worked in banking in Punjab, said her current line of work would be frowned upon in her home country.

"You are only one lady working in a production area," she said. "It's really hard for me first time, but I just say my first need is [a] job. So it's good for me."

Since Humphrey teamed up with Winnipeg Harvest, other businesses have joined in.

Purolator has hired three Harvest recruits, Subway has hired one person, and companies like Safeway, Sobeys and Loblaws have formed partnerships with the food bank. Talks are underway with Pollard Banknote.

Naran credits Bodnarchuk with making the program a success to date.

"There has to be a start, and I can tell you yeah, without Greg, it would have been difficult for us to create that pilot program," he said.