Six thousand new people who have never had to use the services of the Sudbury Food Bank reached out for help this year, said president Mellaney Dahl on Thursday.
“That's a huge number,” she said. “We've never seen a number like that before, and it's concerning. But, there's a whole lot of love in this city, and we're asking people to help out when they can.”
They need look no further than the annual Edgar Burton Food Drive and the Kids Helping Kids campaign, which kicked off Nov. 17 at the New Sudbury Shopping Centre. The food bank serves 16,000 people every year through 44 member agencies across the city.
“A couple cans of soup or pasta sauce, or even $1 goes a long way, because (executive director) Dan Xilon can turn it into $6 worth of food,” Dahl said.
Dozens of students from Chelmsford Elementary School, Larchwood Public School, Churchill Public School, Carl A. Nesbitt Public School and Princess Anne Public School gathered at centre court for the event. They sang songs and were the first to visit with Santa Claus. They were all there to help launch the Kids Helping Kids campaign.
“There are 450 businesses helping out with the Edgar Burton Food Drive, but the part of it I really love is the Kids Helping Kids campaign, because we are instilling in these young people the ideals of giving back to the community,” Dahl said. “Years from now, it won't be me standing up here at the launch, talking about all the good it does in our community; it's going to be these kids, so it's important to teach them now.”
As part of the Kids Helping Kids campaign, students with Rainbow District School Board will be canvassing Greater Sudbury on Dec. 1, trying to reach their goal of 250,000 food donations. Last year, students collected 308,000 food items and more than $25,000 in cash.
As for the Edgar Burton Food Drive, this is the 29th annual event.
“We hope to go over the 1,000-ton mark on cumulative donations, and I really think we can do that,” Dahl said. “This year has been really tough, and we really need the food from this campaign. With increasing grocery bills and utilities bills, everyone is feeling the pinch. The Edgar Burton food drive provides about a quarter of the food we need for the entire year.”
She said it's important for people to realize that the need for food donations doesn't stop after Christmas has come and gone.
“Everybody helps out along the way, and they all fit into the much larger puzzle that feeds people all the time, not just over Christmas,” she said.
For Sharon Burton, seeing all the support for her husband's dream is enough to bring her to tears.
“This is Edgar's dream, it's coming true, and I'm really happy about it,” she said.
