The Sudbury Food Bank celebrated the grand opening of their hot dog cart on May 22 and gave out free hot dogs to the community today.
Thanks to the support of a few community partners, the food bank will be selling hot dogs at their 1105 Webbwood Dr. location between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. from Monday to Friday over the course of the summer. All of the net profit from food sales will go back to the food bank and be used to stock their shelves and help their clients.
"You need to eat lunch anyway, why not help out someone who maybe can't afford to?" said Dan Xilon, Sudbury Food Bank executive director. "Thanks to the buying power of the food bank, every dollar we make is equivalent to $6 of food. So if the hot dog cart makes $20,000, that makes $120,000 worth of food."
A partnership between Wat Supplies and the Sudbury Food Bank was instrumental in launching the hot dog cart, as Wat donated the cart itself and will be training food bank employees to operate it.
"Dan was looking for an idea and we had been tossing some things around and we came up with the food cart," said Travis Gillard, Wat Supply. "We've always been a big supporter of the food bank and we're happy to help out and get this thing going."
A $10,000 donation from Concentra will also play a major role in reducing overhead costs associated with running the cart, such as paying employees and purchasing the hot dogs and sausages.
The hot dog cart will also be supplied with chips, pop, and juice by Wholesale Club.
In addition to hot dogs and sausages, the food cart will introduce Sudburians to a new food option - the doughnut dog - with a long doughnut in place of a regular hot dog bun.
"I wouldn't really recommend a diet of doughnut dogs, but they're delicious and we'll be giving out free samples of them today," said Xilon.
Food is free at the hot dog cart during opening day celebrations. Starting Wednesday, May 23, a hot dog or sausage plus chips and a drink will cost you $7, and you can add cheese and bacon to your meal for an extra $1.
