The 26th annual Fall Food Drive was launched Friday morning at the London Food Bank and organizers are hoping to exceed last year’s donations.
Glen Pearson, co-director of the London Food Bank, says “Just in the last five years our numbers have gone up over 40 per cent. So we’re facing significant challenges.”
According to the food bank, 26,165 kilograms of food were donated during last year’s campaign and 60 per cent was distributed to agencies serving the less fortunate.
The food bank says over 3,600 families a month also go directly to them for support. That’s compared to 650 families back in 1987.
“About 420,000 people visit food banks every month, 42 per cent of those are children, and their numbers are going up just like ours are,” Pearson says.
There is a special need for some specific food items, Jane Roy of the London Food Banks says, “Any kind of baby-type items, baby food, formula, those kinds of things. And also non-food items like toothpaste and underarm deodorant, some of those kinds of things as well.”
Donations of non-perishable food can be dropped off at most local grocery stores, fire halls or at the London Food Bank at 926 Leathorne Street.
Pearson adds “We want to thank Londoners for all that they’re going to do and we want to remind them, there’s a needy family that’s coming in that maybe just lost their job last year or somebody that’s got a mental health condition that’s having real difficulty, somebody that can’t find a home. They’re at the end of all of this.”
This year’s drive runs until Thanksgiving on Monday, Oct. 14.
