Oxford County Road Supervisors Association (OCRSA) made a donation of $5,711.57 to the Blandford-Blenheim Helping Hands Food Bank during the Township of Blandford-Blenheim Council meeting on Wednesday, September 2, 2026.
The contribution marked yet another example of an uptick in community support for the local food bank when Suzy Birley, who operates the organization, made a post to Facebook on July 31, 2026.
“Times are so hard for so many right now. We are currently helping ten families. We have consistently had eight to ten families throughout all 2026. Not always the same families but still just as many,” Birley wrote. “Very few times in the past ten years have we not been able to hand out food and a gift card once a month. Never before have we had such a need for so long of a stretch though.”
The next day, Birley made two other posts thanking the community for rallying behind the cause. As it turns out, residents quickly began contacting her about what they could donate and started sending various e-transfers for both items and gift cards.
“Everyone is so amazing,” she wrote. “Since my post last night the response has been incredible. With our community being so amazing we will have shelves stocked again very soon. Thanks so much to everyone!”
The outpouring of support continued on August 30, when the Drumbo Lions Club teamed up with the food bank for a community food drive to collect non-perishable items from local residents.
Nearly a month to the day after her original post, Birley once again took to Facebook to thank the community for their contributions.
“One month ago I made a post about being very low on food at our foodbank and not having the money to provide a giftcard to each family for bread and milk etc., and since that post everyone has been amazing.The very next day I had an Amazon order arrive to my home with two large boxes of items, and we had many e-transfers come in for several days,” she wrote. “I was in tears with the generosity. We have had giftcards, people have set up donation bins in their businesses and today there was a very successful food drive in Drumbo in the rain. Thanks so much to everyone. We were able to do gift cards in August when I thought we wouldn’t be able to and we will not need to stop giftcards at this point. I can not say thank you enough.”
Just a few days later, Jim Borton, committee chair for the Oxford County Association of Ontario Road Supervisors Municipal Works Trade Show, presented a cheque to council for the food bank.
As OCRSA hosted the 2025 AORS trade show, 40 per cent of the profits from the event remained in Oxford County, allowing the association to decide how the funds would be used.
“We did very well and it was the largest show to date. We also did very well in generating revenue for the association,” said Borton. “Part of hosting is being able to give back to the community, so with that, we have a rather large sum, just over $91,000. that we will be donating back into the community. We will be donating $23,946 to each one of the three hospitals, and I’m here today to present a cheque to the Blandford-Blenheim Helping Hands Food Bank for $5,711.57.”
In response, Mayor Mark Peterson said it was “absolutely fantastic”news.
While Birley herself could not be present during the council meeting, Peterson along with Councillor Nancy Demarest, who are both involved with the food bank, accepted the cheque on her behalf.
Peterson later went on to share that the food bank got its start several years ago after some parents in Drumbo, including Birley, began noticing their own children were taking extra food to school.
“What was happening was the kids were helping some of the younger ones that maybe came to school without lunch, and that didn’t go unnoticed,” he said.
The food bank was eventually established and now serves the entirety of the Township of Blandford-Blenheim.
Peterson continued, saying the cheque will go a long way.
“I would say this will probably feed families for a whole year or more,” he said. “Not that I want people to stop donating, because it does dwindle very quickly, but thank you very much to your group and please tell them that this will go a long, long way in our community.”
It was later added that an upcoming trivia night at Trails Edge Tavern will help to support the food bank. The event is on Saturday, September 26 at 8 p.m.
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
