Organizers of the local edition of the BC Thanksgiving Food Drive (BCTFD) are saying “Wow” and a big thank you all to the residents of Campbell River and local sponsors for their overwhelming supported held this past Saturday, Sept. 16.
In the Campbell River Area, the BCTFD event included more than 44 volunteers providing over 225 hours of service to the community.
They were able to visit over 3,500 homes, and collected more than 8,500 pounds of non-perishable food for Campbell River and District Food Bank.
The local Food Bank shelves need this boost at this time of year as more and more of the community is relying on this resource for their daily food.
Those who do, come from the most vulnerable segment of this community.
Over half of all the households that rely on the food banks are families with children; half these again are headed by single parents.
In total, almost 40 per cent of the recipients of the food bank’s assistance are under the age of 18. Other vulnerable groups include low-wage earners, those with inadequate employment and people on disability income assistance.
This province-wide annual project, now in its seventh year, has collected over $1,000,000 worth of food for the over 50 community food banks in their local areas.
Coordinated on the same day each year, this year over 5,000 volunteers delivered grocery bags to the doors homes in each community and then on the Saturday Sept. 16, drove back over the routes to collect the bags that the residents have so graciously donated.
The donations are then sorted and packed up and taken directly to the local food banks.
Delighted with the amount of aid given, Debbie Willis, manager of the Campbell River said, “It was a tremendous drive this year. The truck was filled completely and the volume was up about 1 1/2 tons from last year (8,500 pounds). We had seven full pallets and have a number of volunteers sorting all the donations.
“We are so grateful to have The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints plus all the volunteers helping to provide food for the community. We get lots of donations throughout the year but this Food Drive is definitely the biggest of the year.”
The local BCTFD event in the Campbell River area was sponsored by several organizations including Quality Foods, Home Depot, Staples, Sure Copy, Kiki’s Printing and all the businesses and organizations that had collection box locations.
For additional information visit foodbanksbritishcolumbia.ca and bctfooddrive.org.