Hanmer food bank still searching for new home

About 65 families in the Hanmer area of Greater Sudbury have been getting by without their local food bank for a few months now.

The food bank shut down just before Christmas when the city deemed its location the second floor of an old fire hall unsafe.

The food bank operated briefly out of the Lions Club, but has since closed.

Chair Wayne Nepssy says their clients are getting food elsewhere, but that's not always easy.

"A lot of our clients don't have vehicles," Neppsy said. "A lot of them rely on public transportation. And I have seen single mothers pulling a wagon with little children coming to the food bank."

The families it served are now using food banks in Capreol, Val Caron and Garson.

Chair 'optimistic' about the future

Nepssy is hopeful that a new home can be found for the Hanmer food bank, but he expects it will be several months before it could re-open.

He said one possibility is that the soon-to-be-closed Pinecrest School could be converted into a community centre housing the food bank and other groups.

"I'm optimistic that something in the not too distant future will develop where we can re-open a location in Hanmer," Nepssy said. "In the immediate future, I don't see anything happening."