The 47th annual community canned food drive is just around the corner and volunteers are required more than ever.
More than 300 are needed to collect canned food items on Nov. 24 from 9:30 a.m. to noon, church member and organizer Kathi Davies said.
“It’s not just the food — we would really like people to also donate money,” Davies said. “The money goes a lot further, they can use it to buy bulk food to distribute and the types of food that are necessary as well.”
They could also write a cheque to any of the food banks listed on the flyer.
A meeting was held on Nov. 17 at St. Cuthbert’s Anglican Church on Bayview Avenue to welcome volunteers who handed out flyers in Leaside and other areas. The flyers asked residents to put donations on their porches to be picked up on Nov. 24.
“We’re just waiting for more volunteers to come in and take the routes,” Davies said. “The coming weekend will be more crucial.”
St. Cuthbert’s food drive, working with other local churches, supports the Flemingdon Park Food Bank, Christian Resource Centre, Evangel Hall Mission and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.
“It’s all churches involved.” Davies said. “It’s not just one church doing it. Its everybody pulling together to help people within our community.”
Joyce Touw, a volunteer who has lived in Leaside for more than 40 years, said the drive is very worthwhile.
“I know there’s lots of different organizations that are trying to collect food, but this one is community-wide,” Touw said.
“We have the young people who do community hours involved in this. It provides them, hopefully with a sense that this is so important that they’ll want to continue volunteering in the future.”