Save-On-Foods annual community food drive | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan's News Source
Subscribe

Would you like to subscribe to our newsletter?

Current Conditions Mostly Cloudy  3.0°C

Vernon News

Save-On-Foods annual community food drive

Image Credit: Contributed

VERNON - Save-On-Foods and A1 Bus Ltd are teaming up with The Salvation Army House of Hope Food Bank to ensure that no families go hungry this fall by hosting a week long food drive September 14 to 19.

Save-On-Foods manager Jim Tennant spent eight long, cold and wet days and nights on the roof of the store, and raised 29,033 pounds in 2014. Following four incredibly successful years on the roof, Jim and A1 are teaming up for the “Stuff the Bus” event held in the Save-On-Foods parking next week.

Our goal this year is to stuff the bus and collect over 30,000 pounds of food to meet the growing challenges of those in need in Vernon. Residents are asked to collect or purchase non-perishable food items and to check the expiry dates on all of the items before they are donated. The bus will be on-site daily in the Save-On-Foods parking lot to receive donations from the community.

This annual event is the largest food drive and the food bank needs your immediate help.

“The start of 2015 has been extremely challenging for many families. As a result, we are running short on a number of essential food items to build nutritious hampers,” says Captain Plante. Following an extremely high demand for the start of 2015, the increased demand on services depleted our stock and we have had to purchase a substantial quantity of food on three occasions already since spring.

Over this summer, the food bank supported on average;
? 683 adults per month
? 366 children per month
? $48,905 in food hampers distributed per month
? $1313 in infant care needs per month

In addition, local farmers helped us distribute from the food bank an incredible 11,803.60 pounds of fresh vegetables this summer collected from the Vernon Farmers' Market.

We are in serious need of the follow supplies:
Pasta, Pasta Sauce, Rice, Peanut Butter, Pork & Beans, Canned meat (ham, tuna, salmon), Hamburger Helper, Canned Chili, Cereal, Ichiban instant ramen noodles, Crackers, Jell-O, Cake Mix, Coffee, Sugar, Size 4 & 5 diapers, and other nutritious food items for infants.
?
On Saturday, September 19th, a group of community volunteers organized by the local Mormon Church will be coming door to door between 9 a.m. and noon to pick up food donations to make a final push to reach our goal of 30,000 pounds in 2015.

“The annual food drive participation and support from Vernon has been incredible. We are looking forward to an exciting week of planned events at Save-On-Foods as we work together to ensure no one needs to go hungry this fall,” says Captain Plante.

Local questions and inquiries should be directed to Captain Jean-Curtis Plante at 250-938-5309 effective immediately.

News from © iNFOnews, 2015
iNFOnews

  • Popular kelowna News
View Site in: Desktop | Mobile