Representatives of a Toronto-based initiative launched in light of COVID-19 made a special trip to Sudbury on Saturday, to deliver around 2,000 servings of pasta al forno and numerous containers of produce to Shkagamik-Kwe Health Centre.
Angela Recollet, chief executive officer (E-niigaanzid) of the health centre, said the donation will be shared with the city's eight other Indigenous-governed organizations, as well as the homeless in the care of Sudbury's Supported Isolation Unit.
"One of the core value systems that we walk with is (that) we all come from one human family. Period. We’re not different peoples; we’re one people," said Recollet. "We don’t turn anybody away."
Saturday's donation was provided by Pasta it Forward, a food delivery service recently founded under the umbrella of the Canadian Italian Heritage Foundation by its president, Frances Tibollo. The initiative delivers free food, pasta al forno and otherwise, to individuals, families, and front-line workers who could use a warm meal during the pandemic.
All that is asked of recipients is that one day they pay it forward with an act of kindness.
The idea was born out of a simple gesture of goodwill, she said, inspired by the generosity of her close friend, Lidia Consiglio. Since then, its team of volunteers have personally prepared and delivered more than 55,000 meals to families and front-line workers within the greater Toronto area and beyond.
Every day there are 12 to 15 cars on the road delivering 500 Pasta it Forward meals to those nominated, almost twice as much over the weekend, she said. Sudbury, however, remains the farthest north the initiative has reached to date.
The first 5,000 meals were sponsored outright through Tibollo's connections to the food industry through her work as a lawyer. After that, she said donations big and small have come from a wide variety of avenues to fill the orders delivered to date. One of these supporters is International Cheese, who alone have sponsored all cheese needed thus far and for the foreseeable future.
"There has just been such overwhelming generosity from everyone, everyone wants to help, no one says no — no matter what the phone call."
"It shows the resilience of the human spirit and the generosity of us Canadians that we’re still coming together and being so generous even in these hard times."
Pasta it Forward's success has inspired Tibollo and partners to carry on the initiative for as long as the pandemic continues as well as every year in June for Italian Heritage Month. They will also be continuing a recent partnership established with Native Child and Family Services of Toronto, so long as it can be sustained.
"COVID-19 is the reason that this came about but there’s no reason that every June we can’t honour staff of all kinds by sending Pasta it Forward deliveries to them or different community groups."
Tibollo said her brother, Michael, usually takes lead on deliveries, but this past Saturday she was the one making the delivery, accompanied by her sister, Mercedes, and father, Michael, associate minister of mental health and addictions for Ontario. Having the support of her family has meant the world she said and a big part of what inspired her to a life of philanthropy.
"My family has always been a family of service. My parents instilled that in us when we were very young,” Tibollo said. “My parents never had to force us to come and volunteer in the community. They themselves were involved and we wanted to be involved because we saw them lead by example."
She explained her father, Michael, has worked with Angela Recollet in the past, so that’s how Pasta It Forward was aware of the work of Shkagamik-Kwe Health Centre.
Shkagamik-Kwe is a primary health care facility that puts culture at the core of its programming and treatments, which in addition to standard care, includes physical therapy, psychiatry, and a wide range of community outreach. Service is provided by a team of around 70 people that Recollet describes as family, who help support a population of more than 5,000 within the city of Greater Sudbury.
"Our traditional program is at the core of everything that we do," she said. "We all work together to ensure that we’re meeting the holistic health and wellbeing of an individual and their families."
Shkagamik-Kwe Health Centre is one of 10 Aboriginal Health Access Centres (AHAC) in Ontario, recently incorporated under the Indigenous Primary Health Care Council (IPHCC) along with Aboriginal-governed Community Health Centres (ACHC) and other Indigenous leaders in the field. All of whom, Recollet explained, base their teachings and practice on the healing properties of traditional medicines.
The health centre has remained active through the pandemic aside from any group activities or spiritual retreats that fell outside of COVID-19 restrictions. Very active, in fact, she added proudly, up to and including finding alternative ways to connect daily with existing clientele.
"The primary care team, along with the other two divisions, have worked diligently to ensure that the safety of the people has been upheld."
In addition to these in-house efforts, the team remains an active partner of the coalition formed between the city's nine Indigenous-governed organizations, known as the Urban Indigenous Sharing Circle and those outside of that particular sector. Most recently, this included supporting the Canadian Mental Health Association Sudbury/Manitoulin in the establishment of a Supported Isolation Unit at the Canada’s Best Value Inn, a safe and judgement-free environment for people who are homeless to undergo testing and recover from COVID-19.
Several community partners came together to make it a reality and support its ongoing programming, she said, in addition to overnight accommodations being offered on the lower level.
Being able to support this initiative and their community partners through this donation is a gift, she said and one that she is confident will continue to inspire further acts of kindness in and beyond Greater Sudbury.
"This showcases what working together looks like. It gives that light of hope to ensure that everybody treats one another with the utmost respect and dignity that we all deserve."
Find more information on the Shkagamik-Kwe Health Centre on its website or Facebook page.
Anyone looking to support Pasta it Forward can do so through the group's GoFundMe page or by writing a cheque payable to the Canadian Italian Heritage Foundation (133 Milani Blvd., Suite 100, Vaughan, ON). All donations are tax-deductible.
Those looking to nominate a recipient may do so through the Pasta it Forward website.
