With the holiday season getting into higher gear, it’s that time when the Kiwanis Club of Elmira is again raising funds for the Woolwich Community Services food bank.
Known for the last two years as the Non-food Food Drive, the annual fundraiser has been rebranded as the Community Food Fund Drive this time around.
Tomorrow (Friday) and Saturday will see Kiwanis members team up with other clubs in Woolwich to run donation-receiving tables at several locations in the community.
The club made a switch away from the traditional collecting of non-perishable food items during the pandemic, discovering the monetary donations turned out to be a better option, said member Wayne Vanwyck.
“In the past we collected 30,000 pounds of food plus donations, but because of the COVID pandemic and people being more concerned about being in contact with others, it was decided that there must be a better way. Actually, it’s worked out really well because the other thing that happened in the past is people would give food that was stale dated and sometimes you would get food that was three or four years past the best before date,” he explained
“Everything had to be searched through to make sure that it was safe to be used, and a lot of stuff ended up getting thrown out. So this is actually much better,” said Vanwyck.
Last year saw the Kiwanis drive collect more than $37,500, which helped support some 500 people in 180 families. This year they are aiming to raise $40,000.
The donation drive is all about neighbours helping neighbours, which is even more important given today’s inflationary pressures, Vanwyck added.
“With all the new people in the community…. I know that there are people out there that are hurting – and those are the ones we want to help – but there are a lot of people who are doing very well, so we can tap into that as well. The price of groceries has gone sky high.”
Donation tables will be set up at locations such as Foodland, Food Basics, Kitchen Kuttings, Shoppers Drug Mart, the Home Hardware locations in Elmira and St. Jacobs and Harvest Moon in St. Jacobs. The club will also be collecting during the Sugar Kings’ home game on Sunday (November 20). A tax receipt will be provided for any donation over $10.
