After a successful joint food drive throughout Canora by the Canora air cadets and the Canora and District Fire Department, the food items were donated to the Filling the Gap Foodbank on October 3 at the Canora branch of the Parkland Regional Library.
Capt. Darren Paul said the cadets were appreciative of the efforts of the firefighters in donating their time to bring increased visibility to the food drive, and for the support of the Library.
Deb Leson, librarian, provided storage space for the food donations after the food drive on September 22 until the donation was made to the Food Bank on October 3.
Pastor Mavis Watson, who runs the Food Bank, was most appreciative of the generosity of Canora residents and of the hard work of the firefighters and cadets in successfully executing the food drive.
“It’s so nice to see the young people involved in the cadets making such an important contribution to our community,” said Watson. “The donation of these food items will go a long way toward meeting the needs of the Food Bank.”
Watson said her goal is to raise close to $7,000 before Christmas, which would be enough to fill approximately 40 hampers with some money left over. She said the hampers aren’t only for Christmas dinner, they each include a week’s worth of food.
“And having some money left for January is important because at that time many people find themselves in need of assistance because they’ve spent all their money on Christmas,” said Watson.
She said prospects for the Food Bank have improved significantly since operations were suspended for about a five-week period in late summer.
“Being closed during that time allowed us to accumulate a number of important items, plus it seemed to really stimulate people to give,” she said.
Watson said cash donations are always welcome, since it can be used to purchase whatever items are in need at the time.
Wrapped hamburger meat is welcome if it is professionally wrapped and dated to indicate how old it is. Canned meat, pork and beans and other protein-based foods are in demand.
Well-known foods such as Kraft Dinners and Hamburger Helper are welcome, since people generally like to eat familiar foods. But it’s important to check the dates on food items to make sure that it is still good, said Watson.
Other items in demand include: coffee, toilet paper, toothpaste and shampoo.
She said the need for the services of the Food Bank continues to be great.
“There have been significant cutbacks in the economy recently, especially in the energy sector,” said Watson. “As a result there are many families without income, and they end up contacting the Food Bank.”
