Thirty pounds of meat, 30 pounds of cheese and hundreds of sandwich buns have been transformed into a manifestation of community spirit. Members of the Italian Canadian Club, volunteers from Stepping Stone and other community-minded people gathered in Guelph to prepare 500 salami and provolone sandwiches on Tuesday to feed people facing food insecurity. This is the second year for the initiative after a company donated a large salami to the club last year. “We got lots of satisfaction out of helping the community,” Italian Canadian Club president John Sanvido said. “We decided we’d try and make this an annual event.” This year, the food was donated by a local Longo’s grocery store. Volunteers arranged themselves into an assembly line to prepare the meals, which were delivered by Stepping Stone staff to various sites across the region. Sanvido said the club, which is approaching its 75th anniversary, is very community-minded. “We find little ways to give back to the community,” he said. “I think this is one of the best ideas we’ve come up with so far.” Stepping Stone said the sandwiches are distributed through the organization’s emergency shelter, family shelter and supportive housing programs. “Five hundred sandwiches can last us quite a few days across those sites,” Stepping Stone spokesperson Holly Williams said. She added that partnerships like this are particularly valuable as many residents continue to face housing and food affordability challenges. “It’s really a nice opportunity to bring different partners together and spread awareness about homelessness and housing insecurity and food insecurity,” Williams said. For organizers, the goal is simple: ensuring more people have access to a meal while strengthening community connections. “Something small like this goes a long way,” Sanvido said. “It’s sandwiches for a day that people are going to be able to have something in their belly that they normally wouldn’t have.”
