The 2018 Rotary Community Food Drive is looking for volunteers in Grande Prairie. The annual event in support of the Salvation Army is usually staffed by over 700 residents but Salvation Army Community Food Drive Coordinator Jerry Napier says they are still short of that number.
“We are less than half of what we’re going to need. We’re looking for about another 70 teams of volunteers.”
On September 18, volunteers will be going door to door collecting food in an attempt to hit every house in the city. In past years, the drive has collected over 46 tons of food. Napier says he doesn’t know of another event that brings in as much as this one does.
“It’s an interesting food drive in that we tout it as the largest food bank of its kind. We don’t know any other that brings in the type of food that we do in that short period.”
Food will be collected from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on the 18. Once the food is collected it will be sorted by the Salvation Army and given to families in need in the area. Napier says that if people want to donate but are not home during collection hours they can drop their items off at a number of locations in the city.
“You can drop your food off at the Salvation Army or the food bank centre or you can take it to any of the three fire halls as well as the licence centre.”
Organizers will be looking for canned foods and high protein items as well as personal hygiene items and diapers. For more information or to volunteer for the Food Drive, visit their website.