Skip to content

Valley residents help donate more than 7,000 pounds of food for local food banks

Residents in the Alberni Valley and Ucluelet area helped raise more than 7,700 pounds of non-perishable food for the Bread of Life food bank, the Salvation Army Food Bank, as well as the Food Bank on the Edge in Ucluelet.
8673301_web1_Food-drive-3
Two tonnes of food sits in the back of a truck ready to be donated to local food banks. SUBMITTED PHOTO

Residents in the Alberni Valley and Ucluelet area helped raise more than 7,700 pounds of non-perishable food for the Bread of Life food bank, the Salvation Army Food Bank, as well as the Food Bank on the Edge in Ucluelet.

The BC Thanksgiving Food Drive (BCTFD) held a fundrasier on Saturday, Sept. 16 where more than 60 volunteers visited 3,000 homes in Port Alberni and Ucluelet.

This province-wide annual project, now in its seventh year, has collected more than $1,000,000 worth of food for over 50 community food banks in their local areas. Coordinated on the same day each year, more than 5,000 volunteers delivered grocery bags to the doors of 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. This year, more than 526,000 pounds of food was collected in B.C. The donations were then taken directly to the local food banks where they will be sorted and weighed.

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 our community, states a press release from the BCTFD. More than half of all households that rely on food banks are families with children, and half of these are headed by single parents. In total, almost 40 per cent of the recipients of the food banks’ assistance are under the age of 18. Other vulnerable groups include low-wage earners, those with inadequate employment and people on disability income assistance.

“Many thanks to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and supporters for their generous donation of food from their BC Thanksgiving Food Drive. In a time of great need it is good to have partners like you to help feed those less fortunate in the Alberni Valley,” said Marilyn Burrows, coordinator of the Port Alberni Community Food Bank (Salvation Army).

The local BCTFD event in the Alberni Valley was sponsored by several local business organizations including The Medicine Shoppe, Coombs Village Centre, Staples, and Nexus Auto.