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Volunteers needed to meet food bank growth

Bank of volunteers sought to serve those in need in Enderby
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Food bank volunteers work to organize some of the food donated through the seventh annual BC Thanksgiving Food Drive held Sept. 16. The approximately 1,029 kilograms of food collected was used up within two distribution days at FED. (Photo Submitted)

Changes to the local food bank has created a need for more volunteers.

The Feed Enderby &District Food Bank (FED) serves about 85 to 100 households each month, providing them with not only canned and dried goods but fresh fruits and vegetables, bread, milk, eggs and meat. Cheese was also recently added to clients’ grocery bags.

“We really want to give people more than beans and macaroni,” explains FED chair Scott Hemenway. “We want people to have good, fresh and nutritious food.”

A food recovery program involving local grocery stores and farmers has resulted in clients receiving these extra items. The Lake Country food bank also provides extra items but there is sometimes no one available to drive there and pick up what is being offered.

“We would love to have a bank of volunteers who may be able to drive out to Lake Country on short notice to pick up donated food from their food bank,” said Hemenway.

The food bank itself is running efficiently, with the new location on Belvedere Street allowing FED to now distribute food twice a month. But the extra day and a move to Tuesdays has also created a need for more people to help with distribution.

The board is eager to reach out to people who may need the food bank but are not accessing it like seniors, the working poor and teens. Reaching these people will result in more work, which will add to the need for volunteers.

Christmas is also just around the corner and extra volunteers will be required to aid with the Realtors’ Food Drive in early December.

Anyone wanting to donate some time to FED can contact volunteer coordinator Corrie Epp at 250-838-9450 or eppic50@shaw.ca for more information.