‘Karma Pantry’ helps feed the less fortunate in Beaumont

A small blue wooden cupboard in Beaumont hides a treasure trove of goods for those facing challenging times.

The “Karma Pantry,” as residents have called it, is giving back to the community in a big way – and it’s all based on the honour system.

“People can just come and help themselves,” said volunteer Jerry Ewasiuk. “The only thing we ask is take what you need and leave some for somebody else.

“People are hungry and people don’t have breakfast. I remember when I was a kid, I didn’t eat very well either, so I know what it’s like.”

Ewasiuk says Beaumont residents are using the “Karma Pantry” as a stop gap, often because they don’t meet the criteria of food banks.

“Either they make too much money or they fall through the cracks,” he said.

The “Karma Pantry” has been around in Beaumont for three-and-a-half years.

“It’s gone from some Kraft Dinner and some cheap soup packages to, as you can see, there’s a lot of variety in there now,” said Ewasiuk.

“Could it be bigger… will it? Probably not? One day hopefully we won’t need it anymore.”

There’s no source of official funding. Keeping it full relies on the kindness of Beaumont residents and Edmontonians. They can drop off food directly into the pantry, or send money to volunteers who purchase food to stock the shelves.

Either way, it allows those in need to come anonymously and take what they need – providing a sense of privacy and dignity.

“People can walk up here any day, any time of the day, any time of the night and just help themselves,” Ewasiuk said. “There’s also a cooler here – veggies, meat, cakes, as you can see – so there’s a little bit of everything. It’s not like that all the time, sometimes it gets cleaned out, but there are about eight or nine of us who rush to it and make sure there’s more food in there.”

“The residents in Beaumont have been awesome.”

—Volunteer Jerry Ewasiuk

Food banks across the country have reported an increase in users this year. National network Food Banks Canada counted 1,935,911 visits to food banks in March — the latest data available — a 32.1 per cent increase from March 2022 and a 78.5 per cent jump from March 2019.

Over the weekend, Ewasiuk ran into a youth who was in need of a few items and asked him if he uses it very often.

“He was here and he was looking at some stuff and I said ‘do you use it very often?’ He said ‘every day.’ I said ‘we just filled it up for you’ and he said ‘thank you very much’ and grabbed some meat and things out of it and headed down the street.”

He says it brings a tear to his eyes when he sees people in such great need and it’s the reason he volunteers, keeping him busy in his retirement.

Ewasiuk says right before Christmas the pantry was bare, so he turned to social media to show the empty shelves. The response was overwhelming.

“And it said ‘and so this is Christmas,’ and there were two little packages of soup and I’m not sure what the candy was,” he said. “And the town just blew up and it blew up and it blew up and it blew up more than we can handle.

“So it’s a good town and there are good people here who are looking after this too.”