Members of the Chatham-Kent ATV Club are getting ready for one last haul of donations to come through their "Feed the Hunger in Chatham-Kent" campaign.
This is the ATV club's third year doing the campaign. The club has been collecting monetary and food donations since October 1 and will wrap up its campaign on Saturday, November 2 at Bob's Motorsport in Chatham. Saturday's food drive will take place rain or shine from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m.
Vince Masse, campaign chairman and former president of the Chatham-Kent ATV club, said each year brings in more donations than the previous one.
Already, the group has raised hundreds of dollars through the campaign's GoFundMe page. As of Thursday afternoon, over $10,000 had been raised, which is well over the initial goal of $5,000. Masse said monetary donations are used to purchase non-perishable food items or hygiene items for those in need.
"We buy as we go," he said. "I have [an approximately] $2,000 order to pick-up on Friday at the Superstore in Chatham and then we have a $1,000 hygiene product order with Shoppers Drug Mart in Tilbury. We're trying to share [the spending] with a bunch of different stores throughout Chatham-Kent."
As for where the donated items have and will be going, Masse said hauls will be split between different organizations within the municipality.
"The food banks all through Chatham-Kent [will benefit, including] Wheatley, Blenheim, Ridgetown, Tilbury, Chatham, Wallaceburg, and Dresden," he said. "We just learned recently that Merlin United Church has a small food bank so I will be going to Merlin to help them out because their shelves are empty."
Although Masse is no longer the club's president, he said he wanted to ensure the group continued this campaign as a way of helping out the community.
"[Since] earning an ATV by-law in Chatham-Kent, I said 'we need to give back to our community,'" said Masse. "The food bank was something that stuck to my heart and many in the club and we have agreed to continue with supporting the food banks that are always in need."
After 2 p.m. on Saturday, Masse said volunteers will load up their vehicles and transport the donated items to most local food banks that same day.
