About the Bayfield Area Food Bank
(with thanks to Catherine Tillman who interviewed the founders)

The Bayfield Area Food Bank owes its existence to the tenacity and perseverance of three community elders; Terry Boa Youmatoff, Audrey Albiston and Anne Laviolette. 

At the start in 2003. There was a great deal of resistance and most felt that a food bank wasn’t needed at all. Initial efforts to establish a food bank involved Terry and Audrey.

Bayfield had no (public) transportation and had one grocery store.

Trinity Anglican Church had an outreach program that consisted of Terry and Audrey. They formed an ad hoc committee to the outreach program. Audrey and Terry were the only members.

Through this church outreach committee, Terry and Audrey witnessed food insecurity firsthand and how this insecurity also often led to isolation. Around this time, Terry came to know Anne Laviolette – a fellow parishioner – who on her own initiative, was cooking meals for fixed income seniors who were running out of food and money before the end of the month.

Linda Morely was the catalyst that sparked this growing awareness into organized action which became Feed My Sheep. Terry and Audrey started collecting food donations, which was an uphill battle of awareness building.

Terry’s initial donation collection efforts were exhausting, making stops at the library, the Virtual High School and other locations. With the onset of cash donations, things got easier as they could purchase what was needed.

Community Support: The library offered to be a food collection site and an outreach location when the food bank began asking the community for donations. They even made posters for the food bank.

Donations increased and Trinity offered up the use of the church hall to facilitate the activities of Feed My Sheep.

At this time, the Lions Club provided the badly needed financial support and offered any other help needed by Feed My Sheep.

The Huron County Food Bank Distribution Centre Terry went to the Salvation Army in Goderich to ask for advice and as luck would have it, that week a meeting was being held by all of the food banks in Huron County. The purpose of the meeting was to create an organization that would approach companies for donations on behalf of all Huron County food banks.

The Huron County Food Bank Distribution Centre was created with a $5,000 donation by Gerald Zielman.

Soon after, Libro joined in to offer their financial support. Huron County Food Bank Distribution Centre Inc. became a Registered Charity January 16, 2008.

Through grants and donations, the HCFDC provides coordinated access to a range of nutritious foods, including fresh fruits and vegetables, dairy and frozen meat.

Bayfield Area Food Bank Today

Photo Gallery

With an increase in clients, donations and volunteers, on January 1, 2020, the Bayfield Area Food Bank became a registered Charitable Organization. Trinity Anglican Church continued to be the host site for BAFB until the fall of 2023. The uncertain future of the church meant that BAFB had to seriously consider its options. Once again, the Bayfield Lion’s Club offered their support; this time in the form of a new and enhanced space in their building on Municipal Road. This new space changed the Food Bank from a once-per-month pop up location to a permanent set up.

Unfortunately, shortly after we moved to our new home, the Bayfield Lion’s Club Building, which was leased from the Municipality of Bluewater, was sold. The Municipality had the opportunity to sell the building to two family physicians interested in coming to the community – and they couldn’t pass that up! 

The BAFB had six months to find a new location, renovate and move. The Municipality provided us with one-half of their town garage at a very manageable rent, however, we needed to do over $135,000 worth of renovations to meet public health requirements. 

The Community of Bayfield responded with overwhelming generosity and we raised the full amount in four months. President Claire Trepanier oversaw the process, BAFB Volunteer Dave Wilson took on the responsibility of overseeing the construction and together with local contractor Mark Wagner, finished the building on time and on budget! The Bayfield Artists Guild put the icing on the cake by paying for a local artist to create a beautiful mural on our wall.

Why We Do What We Do

Given today’s socio-economic realities, there is a much higher understanding and awareness about the need for food banks, including the BAFB.

The work of Terry, Audrey and Anne gave birth to a thriving and critical organization in our community. Without their tenacity, vision and kindness, so many of our neighbours would still be experiencing food insecurity compounded by social isolation.

These amazing women saw a need and found a way to deal with it and to them we owe great thanks.

Our Mission

The Bayfield Area Food Bank’s (BAFB) purpose is to help alleviate hunger and food insecurity in our community by collecting, storing, and distributing food to individuals and families in need.

Volunteer Board of Directors: