5 Chicks and a Farmer promotion leads to extensive food bank donation
BY SCOTT STEPHENSON
Over the years, the close-knit community of Seaforth has responded to rising food insecurity with creativity and compassion. Each spring, its largest fundraiser is Souper Saturday, a competitive soup-off that raises money for the Seaforth and District Foodbank (SDFB). In December, the community rallies again for Ham Slam, the Seaforth Centenaires’ signature food drive, where fans bring hams to a special hockey game and toss them onto the ice as donations for the SDFB.
As the holiday season was ramping up, The Citizen stopped by Seaforth’s busy food bank to speak with SDFB General Manager Gord Franklin for a quick chat about the generosity of Seaforthians this Christmas season. Franklin may have been in the middle of receiving a sizable donation of chicken from a local family farm, but he still made time to talk.
“It’s 200 pounds of chicken,” Franklin told The Citizen. “I’ll be a bit surprised to see what it is! It could be chicken breasts, chicken legs or whatnot, but whatever it is, we’re going to be hugely grateful, because we’re literally down to our last little bit of chicken here.”
He pointed out that the timing of the donation could not have been better. “Two hundred pounds of chicken? That’s a good thing at this time of year,” Franklin said. “We’re going to have ham, because we’ve got the Ham Slam coming up with the Centenaires, so this will last us at least a couple of months - possibly three months! It gives us a lot of stability.”
Large meat donations, Franklin said, typically arrive only a few times each year. “It can be pork, or it can be the hams - all those hams every December are phenomenal for us,” he said. “Those last us a good half a year, so now this chicken is going to add to that and be a great thing for us.”
This change-making chicken donation came from the farm and mind of John and Sarah Moylan, the owners and operators of 5 Chicks and a Farmer on Beechwood Line in Seaforth. Together with their four daughters, the Moylans raise grain-fed and grass-finished beef, pork, turkey and, of course, chicken. This year, they decided to spread their love of high-quality meat to even more hungry folks through a special Black Friday promotion that not only offered customers a discount on bulk online chicken orders, but committed to matching every pound purchased with an equal donation of meat to local food banks and community organizations.
The promotion was a big hit - 900 pounds of chicken were purchased through the promotion, which means 5 Chicks and a Farmer donated over 900 pounds of meat to those in need. Of that total, 200 pounds were allocated to the SDFB, 200 pounds to the Mitchell Food Bank, 200 pounds to the Woodstock Food Bank, and 300 pounds to schools in Stratford. An additional 30 pounds of ham was donated to the Starling Children’s Mental Health Centre in Kitchener for its Christmas dinner for at-risk youth who may not otherwise have a meal to attend.
Since John helped deliver the donation to Seaforth himself, The Citizen took the opportunity to ask this community-minded farmer about how the idea for this charitable chicken derby came about. To him, it was a natural decision. “We had some excess chicken around, and, in this economy, people could use a boost - especially at this time of year,” he explained to The Citizen.
Of course, John didn’t pack up all those pounds of festive food gifts alone - he had a whole lot of help from packer Serena Hinz, who has been putting in extra hours to make it all happen this holiday season. “It was a long day,” she admitted. “I showed up early and then I stayed longer than I usually did. And I almost ran out of room in the freezer! It was fun packing it and keeping it organized, but it sure took up a lot of space! Really, I’m just happy that we’re able to give back to the community and support each other these times - it’s very important!”
Looking ahead, John said the farm hopes to continue growing throughout 2026 and beyond. “We’re looking to grow and keep building our delivery area and get there as much as we can,” he said.
Whenever somebody gives the SDFB the gift of meat, it both lightens the foodbank’s load and brightens somebody’s table. Franklin knows firsthand that every delicious donation really matters - whether it be hams, a cow or a whole lot of chicken. “All of that benefits us, because it’s a cost that we don’t have to incur,” he explained. “And we always want to give our clients some type of a meat product, so it’s just phenomenal.”
I’ve said this since I’ve been here doing this, this community has got the biggest of hearts. Every year they help fill our needs through monetary and food donations. It’s just a fantastic community, and we are so blessed.”