Emergency Service Food Drive calls on community support

Community Connections Revelstoke Society is calling on Revelstoke to pitch in for the 14th annual Emergency Services Food Drive on Wednesday, Sept. 17.

Hundreds of volunteers are needed to go door-to-door and collect and organize food and cash donations to pull off the food drive. Volunteer groups will be partnered with various emergency service staff and vehicles including Revelstoke Fire Rescue Services or Revelstoke Search and Rescue to make noise for one of the largest annual fundraising events for the food bank.

“Each year, 25 per cent of food for the entire year is raised during this important food drive,” Jenna Thomsen, foodbank and outreach co-ordinator wrote in a press release. “We can’t do this without our community.”

Nearly 1,000 local households access the food bank and client visits are becoming more frequent as cost of living increases, Thomsen wrote.

“Food banks are not government funded,” she added. “Our food bank relies solely on grant funding and donations, both monetary and foods. We purchase a large portion of the foods that we distribute, and therefore are feeling the pinch in stretching our funding as best we can.” 

Rising prices of food are impacting how much food Community Connections can purchase with monetary donations, which helps provide staples in bulk and supply foods for various dietary needs such as celiac disease. 

Community Connections also uses monetary donations to purchase fresh produce, meat and dairy products, oftentimes partnering with local suppliers. As for food donations, Thompsen reminded folks “if you wouldn’t eat, please don’t donate it.”

Over the last couple of years, Revelstoke has heard the call to better vet food before donating. During previous Emergency Service Food Drives, Community Connections had to discard roughly 30 per cent of donations that were over a year expired, partially used or damaged, but that percentage has dropped to around five per cent during the last couple of drives.

Groups and individuals interested in volunteering can sign up through the Community Connections website. Volunteers will start at the Community Connections outreach centre at 4 p.m. and collection teams will head out at 4:30 p.m. to various communities around town. 

Listen for the sirens and volunteers knocking at your door or leave food out front to participate.