CENTRE WELLINGTON – Growing up in the beaches area of Toronto in the 1950s and ’60s, Jackie Andrews (née Hill) said she had a happy childhood. But it was not without hardships.
Andrews’ father died when she was seven, and her brother was two.
“I grew up with a single mom,” Andrews said. “But we had everything we needed … We were right on the lake. It was very beautiful.”
Andrews said that by the time she got to Grade 13, she was bored.
“It was strictly academics; I didn’t want that for university.”
She liked math and athletics and graduated with an honours math and phys-ed degree from the University of Toronto.
During university, Andrews was a competitive swimmer and tower diver. “I was fearless. Well, I am fearless,” she said with a laugh.
“We grew up right near the swimming pool by the lake at Woodbine. It was free, and we spent our summers there. I lived in the diving pool,” she joked.
During her early teaching career, a neighbour of Andrews’ helped to create the first Toronto Food Bank.
“I always thought that would be an amazing thing to do. I knew that when I retired, I would get involved in that,” Andrews said.
“So many people are born into need. Unless you walk a hundred miles in someone’s shoes, you have no idea what they are going through.”
Family
Andrews met her husband Bruce when they both taught at a summer physical education program for elementary students.
“We met in the summer of ’76 and were married that Christmas.”
Jackie and Bruce both had a passion for downhill skiing and golf.
“All our trips seem to be around that. We had many European ski trips, and went to Utah, Vail and Aspen.”
Their son Mark was born in 1986, and Jackie was able to take eight years off.
At that time, the family lived five minutes from a new ski lodge.
“Mark started skiing when he was two. It was something we did every day.”
Mark married recently, but Jackie still describes herself as a helicopter mom.
“Being an only child, he puts up with me. Mark allows me to do that.”
Organizing
“I love organizing, for me it’s fun,” Andrews said.
Andrews was instrumental in starting a rural Neighbourhood Watch, a mom and tot group, a community events group and other programs in the communities she lived in before the family moved to Elora in 1992.
She taught in the area until her retirement in 2006. It didn’t take long for her to start volunteering at the food bank.
“In 2007, I responded to an ad in the paper for a board member. I’ve been doing that ever since.”
Between working at the food bank and from home in her role as board chair, Andrews puts in dozens of hours a week.
“I love the people that are here. I love helping people if I can. The beauty of being here is that people need someone to talk to who is neutral,” Andrews said.
“Listening is free, a smile is free. Kindness is free. ‘Thank you’ and ‘how are you’ are free.
“You don’t know what is happening in someone’s life. Who are we to judge?
“And kids don’t have any choices at all. It is our responsibility to help them,” Jackie said. “I love it here. I don’t think of it as work.”
‘In our corner’
Andrews said she has made many friends in co-volunteers and clients. “I’ve known some of them since 2009. They are like family to me.”
“When gift cards were first introduced at the food bank, we had people say ‘well, what if they buy dessert?’ And then when Freshco started carrying alcohol, people said, ‘well, what if they buy wine?’
“Why can’t they have that? Because you make under a certain amount of money, you’re not allowed to have these things? It’s not fair.”
Evelyn Seeley and her family have accessed the food bank over the years.
Andrews “has truly become like family,” Seeley said. “She lights up when I tell her how the kids are doing in school.
“When we have a victory to celebrate, she celebrates with us,” Seeley said.
“We know if ever we need someone in our corner Jackie will be there to cheer us on.”
Seeley said she has witnessed Andrews extend that kindness to others as well.
“She genuinely cares and wants to make a difference in the community.
“Her genuine nature is my favourite thing about her. She made reaching out and asking for help so much easier,” Seeley said.
Food bank manager Curt McQueen said, “Jackie Andrews is kind, thoughtful, compassionate and, at the same time, tireless, organized, and attentive to details.
“She is amazing with clients, but it also amazing with the numbers, statistics, and data that is so important to advocacy for the food bank.
“Her involvement and history with the Centre Wellington Food Bank has been an essential part of my transition to the role of Executive Director,” McQueen said.
“She knows everything about this place and continues to be a wealth of knowledge and very helpful with my learning process”
Andrews expressed gratitude for her husband.
Good to go – CW Food Bank board chair Jackie Andrews with freshly prepared meals offered at the food bank. Photo by Lorie Black
“My husband is wonderful. He has always supported me in everything I do.”
Jackie said Bruce volunteers ‘behind the scenes’ at the food bank as well.
Bruce spent several years as a principal at an elementary school located in an area where there was a lot of poverty, Jackie said.
He was involved in the school’s breakfast program and has witnessed the effects of food insecurity.
Despite all the time Jackie volunteers, she and Bruce recently got a puppy, a Bichon Frise named Toby.
“We’d looked at getting a Bichon Frise, but there were none around.”
Jackie said she and Bruce “decided it was just as well. We can travel, go skiing, go golfing, all these wonderful things.”
But they got a call that morning. A puppy had become available. “We went to see him and of course we brought him home,” Andrews said.
“I go all in on everything,” Andrews said. She is still an avid golfer, but she said her life is the food bank.
To anyone needing the services of the food bank, Andrews encourages them to come.
“If you know someone who is struggling, encourage them to come or say that you will go with them to the food bank, so they don’t feel alone or embarrassed.”
“You walk through that door, and you’re not going to be judged. You’re going to get kindness.”
“She’s very empathic, very caring and always listens,” said board vice chair and volunteer Shelley Spies.
“She is very compassionate. She knows the families intimately. She’ll ask what the kids are doing, wants to see pictures, and she really listens.”
Spies first met Andrews in 2007 when working at Scotiabank in Fergus. Spies volunteered on several Scotiabank fundraising initiatives involving the food bank.
At that time, Spies belonged to a mother/daughter club. She reached out to Andrews to organize a tour of the food bank.
Spies said Andrews took the girls through, explaining how the food bank works and what it offers.
“The teaching part of it was fascinating. Her influence helped my kids to want to volunteer.
“It really opened their eyes. When I’d say ‘hey, we’re doing this for the food bank,’ there would be a connection.”
Spies said Andrews is aware of and invested in every aspect of the CW Food Bank. “She oversees every single one of the board meetings.
“To have the responsibility of making sure everything is taken care of, that is a humongous responsibility.
“She is detail oriented. It’s one thing to come in and support, but she makes sure there is money, and grants, and all the programs we have – that’s all run by the board. And she leads that and has done for a very long time,” Spies said.
“She is a light in a dark world and my family is lucky to know her,” Seeley added.
