There’s been a change at the helm of the Okotoks Food Bank, but the new executive director is a familiar face to the non-profit's growing client base.
Bente Yanota, who has worked at the food bank for the past seven years, most recently as client support co-ordinator, took over from Pamela McLean at the beginning of the month.
She does so at a time when the food bank is experiencing unprecedented demand for its services, including an almost tripling of visits to its Help Yourself Shelves during 2023.
McLean said because Yanota has done every job at the food bank except executive director, it only made sense for her to take on the role, although she wasn’t keen on giving up direct contact with clients.
“I do love my clients, I love being down there,” said Yanota, who is keeping one foot in that role for the moment as staffing levels are sorted out. “That's how I know what’s going on in the community, hearing what they need, so I’m not ready to give that up yet.”
With over 20,000 visits, representing 75,000 family members, to the Help Yourself Shelves in 2023, up from 7,500 visits in 2022, Yanota expects that increased demand will continue through at least the early part of 2024, forcing the food bank to get creative to meet that need.
She said when someone loses a job or suffers a health setback, they can fall behind on their monthly expenses quite quickly and it can take them a while to get out of that predicament, which is where the food bank comes in.
“They're here, they’re apologetic they’re here, but they just don't have anything left in the cupboard,” Yanota said. “We’re happy we can be here to support them for as long as they need it. Some need it just once or twice, but others will be with us for years.”
McLean, who is not calling her departure a retirement, said after five years it was the right time to take a break from the food bank.
Soon after her arrival, McLean helped develop a five-year strategic plan, which has now been concluded, and she said the need to create a new plan made her think about her future.
“It was such a hard decision, but I’m not a person who only half commits, and I just wasn’t prepared to commit to another five-year plan or even a three-year plan,” she said. “It was time to let someone new work that out.
"I never, ever thought of it as a job and it truly has been the most fulfilling thing I’ve ever done with my life."
McLean and Yanota are proud of the team at the food bank, both staff and volunteers, saying the goal is to lift people up through nutrition.
“The team, and this goes back to before I came on board, always wanted the Okotoks Food Bank to be a centre of wellness, not just a distributor of calories, hence the focus of the hampers, where 40 to 50 per cent will be that fresh produce, that meat protein, the eggs, the dairy, the milk,” said McLean.
“We guarantee it’s fresh, that’s why we purchase (food) every week.”
