A thousand pounds of potatoes pledged for Steinbach food bank

Dice it, fry it or mash it.

A Pansy native said he will help fill pantries and donate at least 1,000 pounds of potatoes to the Steinbach-based food bank South East Helping Hands on Oct. 9.

“It’s a good feeling to help people volunteer and help God feed his people,” said Melvin Kachur, standing outside the Clearspring Centre Sobeys.

The pledge is part of Kachur’s Garden of Eden, where the 79-year-old has grown and donated vegetables for four years. He mainly grows corn and and potatoes on his five-acre property.

Kachur felt he needed to help people by growing and donating the potatoes because potato famines hurt his Ukrainian ancestors. From 1932 to 1933, Ukrainians suffered though the Holodomor, a Soviet-coordinated mass starvation of Ukrainian regions. The Holodomor killed nearly four million people.

“Potatoes are kind of the easiest thing to grow, and everybody loves potatoes. It’s either hash browns or french fries or mashed potatoes. Everybody eats potatoes.” he told The Carillon.

Kachur started the Garden of Eden when he retired as a meat inspector for the federal government and realized he had “a lot of time on my hands.” He watched as demand began swelling at local food banks and felt compelled to help.

“I think God wanted us to help feed the people, so kind of nudging me,” he said.

He previously donated his garden’s crops to other charities, including Siloam Mission and Steinbach Family Resource Centre. Kachur said he’ll be happy when the last potato is out of his garden. To harvest the potatoes, invites went to the community to help dig up the crop on Oct. 13, he said.

Besides the potatoes, Kachur also donated $200 to the charity.

Ken Dyck, executive director for South East Helping Hands, is grateful for the extra taters, but finding the storage space for that many will be tricky. He’s expecting to share the potatoes with other food banks who might need them, like La Broquerie Helping Hands.

“That’s a lot of poundage, and we only have the one cooler. Potatoes only stay good for so long,” he said.

Kachur’s donation was part of the charity’s food drive, which ran from Oct. 3 to 10, Dyck said. The drive is crucial for keep the food bank stocked throughout the winter months, he said.

When people ask what they should donate, Dyck said he always tells them to bring cereal boxes.

“We can’t complain. We just say thank you all the time,” he said.