Ottawa teen running to P.E.I. in support of local food bank

A 17-year-old from Ottawa is tackling what to most would be an unimaginable feat. Louis Jacques is running dozens of marathons all the way to Prince Edward Island in support of a local food bank.

Jacques has been volunteering with the St. Joe’s Supper Table for just over a year and has seen the extreme demand in the community. The food bank is located in Ottawa’s Sandy Hill neighbourhood, in between the ByWard Market and UOttawa. In the last several years, this small organization has seen a huge spike in people, as have all food banks across the country.

“The need grows year over year,” Jacques told CityNews in an interview. “I really want to make an impact, more than just volunteering, I want to see how I can raise money.”

According to Food Banks Canada’s Hunger Count 2024, there were 2,059,636 visits to food banks in March across Canada, up six per cent from 2023 and 90 per cent from 2019.

St. Joe’s Supper Table started off in ’78 as a small group handing out sandwiches to those who needed food. It has grown to two meals a day with options of dine in and take out, with a food bank attached.

“We have one of the smallest catchment areas, but we’ve grown considerably since COVID. So, last year we increased by 60 per cent new registrations and then this year again we’ve increased another 60 per cent,” Kathleen Strader, the Supper Table’s manager, said in an interview.

The growth is just over 1,000 people this year accessing the food bank and meals. Strader says that it used to be a small food bank but is now classified as medium-sized.

Over the past few years, Jacques has been working in the food bank or serving meals, and he’s seen this rise in person. Knowing Strader is already doing the most she can, he offered to do a fundraiser.

The 17-year-old said he had been cooking up an idea before he settled on running. He has been doing long-distance running for a while now and said he wanted something that would challenge him but also bring awareness to his fundraiser.

“I’m in a position to succeed and I should take advantage of my luck,” he said. “I have a duty to these people to make sure that they get to eat too.”

The run to Georgetown, P.E.I. is being completed in stages since Jacques is still in school. Instead of doing the 1,400 kilometres Terry Fox-style, he is running multiple marathons a weekend driving back and forth to the end points.

The plan is to do the run and drive until the New Brunswick border, then Jacques’ school year will be done and he can focus solely on his running.

Near the end of the trek, he will be running six to seven marathons straight to reach the island.

In those moments where it could be raining, he is tired or muscles start to cramp, Jacques says he thinks about the people the money will be able to help.

“There was a mom who came in with her little kid, who was about seven,” he said. “It just made me think about my little cousins, who I couldn’t imagine them needing to come in to grab a meal.”

Jacques said this child was “so happy” to get a juice box and dessert at the Supper Table.

“It’s just unthinkable that there are people who don’t have food,” he said.

To support the Run for Your Supper fundraiser, donations can be given in person at St. Joseph’s Parish or online.