Biz Cares campaign surpasses milestone in holiday food drive

The 24th annual London Business Cares Food Drive wrapped up Wednesday morning with positive news.

“627,000 pounds of food was collected, an increase from last year’s total of 595,000,” Committee Chair Wayne Dunn said.

Several companies presented large monetary cheques at Wednesday morning’s event to go along with the results of food donations they were able to collect during the campaign.

The fundraiser did not set a goal this year, with the uncertainty of the economy and keeping with a tradition started during the COVID pandemic

“Despite the rising costs of groceries this year, we were able to bring in food collection alone, 158,000 pounds,” said Dave Bunce of Hawke Media.

On top of the monetary donations, there was a strong focus on women’s needs, as hygiene products were collected in partnership with Tampon Tuesday.

“In the end, almost 1,000 packages of pads and tampons were collected in support of the business cares food drive,” said Tampon Tuesday spokesperson Sacha Long. “It was really something special and so much to be proud of.”

Catholic Central High School (CCH) continued to support the campaign through the Leaders in Exercise and Athletics Program (LEAP).

“For many of us, it's been our first philanthropic event and the feedback we have received from our new LEAP students is just astounding,” said CCH student Natalie Teller.

Meanwhile, Jane Roy from The London Food Bank said this overwhelming show of support will go a long way during difficult times

“The numbers are huge. But when we talk about the 6,000 families at the London Food Bank right now, the 43 per cent increase, those are numbers, but they actually represent people. So you have made a huge difference in people's lives in London,” she said.

Over 40 other programs are supported by the campaign, including the soup kitchen, school breakfast programs, Youth Action Centre, Atlohsa, The Unity Project, Anova, and Mission Services.