Peterborough's Generosity Fuels Food Drive By Kawartha Food Share

The bins were filling up with donated goods as Kawartha Food Share (KFS) held its month-long county-wide food drive at Morello’s Independent Grocer on Friday.

Customers were quickly filling up the donation bins at Morello’s Independent Grocer at Willowcreek Plaza. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

The food drive will restock food banks across the county that saw higher demand for food during the pandemic according to Ashlee Aitken, KFS general manager.

The event is one of five stops that will take place during the month of June in five different cities in Peterborough County. All proceeds donated at Morello’s will be donated to the Apsley food bank which lost Sayer’s Foods last December to a fire.

The other food drives will take place in Bridgenorth, Buckhorn, Havelock and Lakefield every Saturday of the month. All items donated will be circulated in their town’s respective food banks.

Each food drive is being from from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

Peterborough-Kawartha MPP Dave Smith and a few volunteers were present to collect food and cash donations and give away free items such as reusable bags and water bottles.

“We’ve had a number of people who’ve come and said they changed their day just so they can come out and make a donation to Kawartha Food Share today,” said Smith. “It’s fabulous to see the generosity in our community. So many people looking out for their neighbours, it’s just wonderful.”

Peterborough-Kawartha MPP Dave Smith helped Kawartha Food Share last November in their “Winter is Coming Food Drive” which raised almost $40,000 in cash and food donations. Photo by David Tuan Bui

Morello’s donated $500 to the campaign according to one of Smith’s volunteers. The grocery store had prepackaged food bank bags available for purchase for either $10 or $20.

Several bins were already full of donated goods by the first half-hour of the food drive according to Smith.

Food Bank Bags were piled at the store’s entrance to be purchased and donated to Kawartha Food Share. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

KFS distributes 150,000-200,000 pounds of food in a month which feeds over 9,000 individuals.

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Spare-A-Square #2: Porch Food Drive For Kawartha Food Share Takes Place October 24th

Following on the heels of a successful Spare-A-Square food-raiser earlier this year in March that collected 23,000 pounds of food, another vital citywide food drive to restock the dwindling shelves at Kawartha Food Share has begun.

On Saturday, October 24th by 9 a.m., anyone who is not ill or in self-isolation is being asked to leave a bag of non-perishable food items on your front porch to be picked up by volunteers. The porch food drive takes place across the city of Peterborough, and will help restock the empty shelves at Kawartha Food Share.

File photo

Starting at 9 am, volunteers will drive around the city and collect the items and deliver them to the Kawartha Food Share warehouse.

HELPFUL ITEMS THEY NEED INCLUDE:

-> Canned tuna
-> Pasta and pasta sauce
-> Alpha-getti, Kraft Dinner and Chef Boyardee, (things that are easy and that kids like)
-> Breakfast cereal 
-> Peanut Butter 
-> Any non-perishable fruit and vegetable items
-> Rice
-> Canned soup/stew
-> Feminine hygiene products
-> Baby formula
-> Diapers

Monetary Donations are also helpful. For every $1 donated, KFS can purchase up to $6 worth of food. Volunteers will be able to collect cheques or cash on October 24th. Or donations can be made online here.

File photo

All COVID-19 safety precautions are being taken. Organizers say there will be no face-to-face contact between those donating and those picking up. Volunteers will be in their own vehicles, and they will be wearing masks and will observe all necessary and suggested safety protocols.

If you are ill, do not leave a bag outside of your home. If you are self-isolating meaning you can’t make a food donation, you are asked to consider making a donation online here—every dollar counts in large amounts.

If you’re a business that wants to help, email organizer Megan Murphy here or call 416.459.8630.

For more information on the event, click here.

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A Bunch Of Immaculate Conception Students Just Showed How Anyone Can Have Great Impact

It doesn't matter who you are. Anyone can make a difference and have a great impact on the lives of others.

Students at Immaculate Conception School gave further proof of this with a Thanksgiving food drive they did in Peterborough's East City.

The grade 6/7 and 7/8 students began the food drive by delivering notes (see note below) to 300 homes in the neighbourhood of Immaculate in East City.

They then returned to gather up all the donations.

The students collected and organized all the food on Tuesday (October 11th), and in total an amazing 1,250 pounds of food was donated.

The food was dropped off at St Vincent de Paul this morning.

"We were overwhelmed by the generosity of our little East City community," teacher Mitch Champagne tells PTBOCanada. "This is a great example of servant leadership and shows how many people, each contributing a little, can come together to make a big difference."

Many hands do God's work. #Ptbo #PVNCserves pic.twitter.com/bPOC9an3cc

— Mitch Champagne (@MitchChampagne) October 7, 2016

Well done Immaculate Conception students!
 

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