Residents of Campbell River have overwhelmingly supported the local edition of the BC Thanksgiving Food Drive (BCTFD) on Sept. 17.
In the Campbell River Area, the BCTFD event included more than 47 volunteers providing over 89 hours of service to the community. They were able to visit over 2,300 homes, and collected more than 6,000 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, this year in its Sixth year, collected over 428,000 lb. of food for the over 50 community food banks in their local areas. Coordinated on the same day each year, this year over 5000 volunteers delivered grocery bags to the doors homes in each community and then on the Saturday Sept. 17th, 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, “We are pretty darn amazed. We are still unpacking and everything came sorted and packed so well. Our Food Banks shelves were looking pretty grim and now they are plentiful”
The local BCTFD event in the Campbell River area was sponsored by several organizations, including the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. For additional information visit foodbanksbritishcolumbia.ca and bctfooddrive.org.