A vital part of the community, serving the city’s most vulnerable for more than 114 years, needs residents to give what they can.
The Salvation Army – Vernon House of Hope continues to provide food to hundreds of families every year.
The local food bank is entirely dependent upon the generosity of the donors and volunteers, who gather, sort and stock the food that is provided to those who qualify for support.
Just like the volunteers with the BC Thanksgiving Food Drive, who are dropping flyers at homes throughout Coldstream and Vernon this week ahead of pick-ups Saturday, Sept. 24.
The BC Thanksgiving Food Drive is a provincial organization with volunteers in every major community in British Columbia, and is currently organizing this year’s eleventh annual event.
The same volunteers dropping off flyers will then return between 9 and 10 a.m. Saturday to pick up any food donations that have been left out.
On the day of the food drive, if bags have not been picked up after 1 p.m., donors are asked to drop donations off at either of the two Save on Foods (Village Green or Polson Park) locations in Vernon, where donation bins are set up.
Last year’s BC Thanksgiving Food Drive collected approximately 500,000 pounds of food across B.C. by more than 4,800 volunteers, valued at more than $1 million.
In the Okanagan, an estimated 600 volunteers collected 125,000 pounds of food for local food banks across the region in 2021.
Here in Vernon, one of the organization’s executive directors of volunteer services, Uriah Kane, is hoping to beat last year’s numbers, which saw approximately 37,800 pounds of food collected.
“This massive initiative is only possible with the help of donors and volunteers,” said Kane. “Donors are asked to give non-perishable food items and to check the expiry dates if possible.”
The food bank has a number of high priority items it is hoping to collect this year including:
- canned tuna and salmon
- canned fruit
- sugar and flour
- rolled oats
- rice
- Side Kicks and instant noodles
- pancake mix and syrup
- Jello
The BC Thanksgiving Food Drive is looking for additional community partners and volunteers, who can donate some time to serve the needs of the community; anyone interested in taking a route can call Kane at 250-550-0182. For more details, visit bctfooddrive.org.
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