Here's how Bertha the hen, Winnipeg Harvest and inner city kids are connected
Manitoba Egg Farmers donates 68,760 eggs to food bank
Meet Bertha.
She and her 4,800 friends each laid an egg this morning before 8 a.m.
In fact, they each lay an egg almost every day, with thousands of them destined for Winnipeg Harvest's food banks.
Bertha and her pals are treated graciously for their efforts.
They all live in the comfort of their cages (affectionately referred to as condos) with 24-hour access to water, four meals daily, and a corner with a red curtain.
That's where the magic happens.
Every morning, Bertha hangs out in the curtained section to lay her daily egg. (She likes her privacy.)
The egg then rolls down the condo onto a conveyor belt, along with thousands of other eggs.
This is Sandra Dyck. She and her husband Eric run 4D Farms. The family farm has been operating just outside of Springtstein, Man. since 1967.
The Manitoba couple loves to open up their farm to people who want to learn more about where their food comes from. They've hosted tour groups from the University of Manitoba, Fort Whyte Alive and english as a second language classes.
"Often we find the consumer is so removed from where food comes from and where the production of their food actually happens," said Dyck.
"We're passionate and proud of what we do, and we like to share that with people."
The couple walks into the barn after they've finished their breakfast to check on Bertha and the ladies — making sure they're all in tip-top egg-laying shape.
Then, on goes the conveyor belt.
Bertha's egg travels along the conveyor belt to the stacking area so the Dycks can inspect and collect them.
Dyck says she volunteered at Winnipeg Harvest when she was younger, and it means a lot to know that her day-to-day work is helping other families.
"As farmers, we love to give back to our community. It's great we can support programs like Winnipeg harvest and those people in need," she said.
It takes the farmers between one and two hours to pick up all the eggs, place them into cartons and stack them all in a cooler. From there, the Dycks send their eggs to a grader to be cleaned, packaged and ready for Manitobans to eat.
4D Farms is just one of 170 egg farms in Manitoba. The Manitoba Egg Farmers takes a portion of all eggs produced and donates them to Winnipeg Harvest. In 2018, 5,730 dozen eggs were donated to the food bank.
From there, Winnipeg Harvest makes those 68,760 eggs available to programs across the province.
Programs like the West Broadway Youth Outreach.
That's where 13-year-old Arabelle Balamana has gone on weekday afternoons for the past three years. Today, she's working on a book report.
"I'm in French immersion and my parents don't speak French, so they have French tutors here," she said.
"I also go to homework club because when you do your homework, they give you something in return, like snacks. And if your report card shows that you put effort and you come to homework club regularly, you become a straight-A student."
After school on Mondays and Wednesdays, the West Broadway Youth Outreach feeds anywhere between 45 and 70 students before their homework club starts. Students must bring at least five pages of homework in order to get a free meal, some tutoring and some hang-out time.
"Their focus just goes way up," said Loana Valdez, the director's assistant at WBYO.
"A lot of the times, they're coming straight from school and we don't know whether they've had lunch or when their last meal might have been, so when they're here, they know they can rely on us."
Ken Opaleke is the executive director of WBYO, and says without Winnipeg Harvest donations, this program would have a difficult time surviving.
"We would have to literally scrounge, beg, borrow and everything short of plead for anything community can donate," he said.
"So with Winnipeg Harvest, the only word that comes to mind is essential. And Bertha, of course."
Today, Bertha's egg helped make veggie and cheese frittatas.
Tomorrow, Bertha will wake up and do it all over again. Thanks Bertha.
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