Lanark County Food Bank manager to receive King Charles III Coronation Medal

The Lanark County Food Bank (LCFB) is full of pride as their manager, Tammy Parent, will be the recipient of the King Charles III Coronation Medal this summer.

Serving as manager of LCFB for six years, Parent was  “shocked and taken aback” to learn she was  being honoured for her exceptional efforts to combat food insecurity within the local community. 

According to LCFB, “The King Charles III Coronation Medal will be awarded to 30,000 deserving individuals who have made significant contributions to their communities, Canada, or the world.” 

Parent is being recognized in the Community Service and Philanthropy category.

Parent is responsible for overseeing most aspects of running the food bank, everything from placing orders of groceries twice a week, managing and scheduling the volunteer team, registering new clients, client intake and community outreach.

She told Lanarkist, “I learned about this award by email last Wednesday from Feed Ontario, the nominating organization. In all honesty my first thought was why me…There are so many more deserving people than me in this industry? After settling in with the idea, I am so very thankful and very humbled.” 

Parent sees this award as not only a personal achievement, but also as a testament to the hard work and dedication of the entire team at the LCFB.

“Our team of 170 volunteers makes this organization as great as it is. I am more than happy and proud to receive this medal on behalf of all our volunteers who make coming here as pleasant an experience as possible.”

Parent will officially receive the medal in a ceremony in June. In the meantime, she told Lanarkist that she is currently working on the kick-off for the Smile Cookie Campaign with Tim Hortons from April 28 to May 4.

“We will be sharing the proceeds with our local hospitals in Carleton Place and Almonte. We are very excited as this is a super fun campaign.”

The LCFB are also in the process of searching for their new home, ideally a forever home. Parent shared, “We will be looking to the community for support in the next short while as we get no government funding to support our important role in the community.”