It was really kids that were the original motivation behind the Edgar Burton Christmas Food Drive three decades ago, specifically Edgar Burton's three daughters Lynn, Christine and Jennifer.
They were involved in collecting food for the needy at their school, and one of them asked their dad, a machinist at Inco Ltd. (now Vale) if he could start a food drive at his workplace.
That was the origin of the Edgar Burton Christmas Food Drive, which is 31 years old this year, and collects about a quarter of the Sudbury Food Bank's yearly food supply, or enough to keep it going until spring.
Last year, that amounted to more than 100 tons of food.
A decade ago, Burton launched the Kids Helping Kids campaign, which involves local schoolchildren in the Christmas food drive.
Sadly, Burton passed away from cancer in 2010, but his legacy lives on through the food drive.
“It's so, so important to have children (involved),” said Burton's wife, Sharon Burton, speaking to Sudbury.com Nov. 15 after the food drive's launch.
“The children are the ones that are going to keep it going. I'm just so proud of them.”
Hundreds of kids from local schools attended the food drive launch at the New Sudbury Centre, singing songs and placing food items into a donation box as well as enjoying a visit from Santa Claus.
Burton “was a wonderful man,” said MacLeod Public School principal Kerri Monaghan, who's in charge of the Rainbow District School Board's Kids Helping Kids food drive efforts.
“He came to all of our schools and he made those connections with the teachers and with the kids and really explained his vision,” he said. “He made a really easy way for us to contribute and give back to our community.”
Last year, Rainbow Board schools collected 272,000 food items, as well as $37,000 in cash. Monaghan said the board hopes to surpass this total in 2018, focusing more on bringing in cash.
“The push is on a little bit more for the monetary donations,” she said.
“We explain to the kids that the buying power that the food bank has allows them to stretch our dollar six times. One grocery cart of groceries, the food bank could purchase six of those.
“Also with the monetary donations, you're able to purchase milk and fruits and vegetables.”
Sudbury Food Bank executive director Dan Xilon said he really appreciates the involvement of local schools in the food drive.
“The kids, the students, the teachers, the school teams — if anybody along the line is not that genuinely interested, it's not going to work,” he said.
“This is the support we get from all these young people and the excitement they show. This (the food drive launch) is one of my favourite events because they're just so pumped. They're ready to go. It's fabulous.”
The Edgar Burton Christmas Food Drive runs until Dec. 14. Learn more about the campaign on the food bank's website.
