Either filling a bag with non-perishables to place at the curb or planting a row of fresh produce to donate, both options are key ways to give during the city's annual London Cares Curb Hunger Food Drive.
The launch of the 23rd edition of the food drive was marked Wednesday outside of the Real Canadian Superstore at 1205 Oxford St. W. City officials, community partners, and London Food Bank staff spoke about the importance of the food drive which helps to stock food bank shelves throughout the quiet summer months.
"The summer is traditionally our lowest giving months when it comes to food, so this actually helps us and other agencies throughout the summer in terms of our ability to help people in our community," said Jane Roy, co-executive director of the London Food Bank. "Poverty doesn't take a summer holiday like the rest of us. Poverty is year round and people who are struggling are struggling year round."
Non-perishable food items being donated to the London Food Bank.
The food bank serves an average of 3,523 families per month. Last year's drive saw 52,300 lbs of food donated, 2,950 lbs of which was fresh produce from the Plant-Grow-Share A Row program. The initiative that encourages Londoners with a green thumb to plant an extra row of fresh vegetables to donate at harvest time is now in its third straight year.
"This food drive is kind of morphing into our fresh food drive. The ability to have fresh produce is amazing," said Roy.
The food drive kick-off also ushered in the newly branded Community Re-Fresh program, which had been operating as an ongoing pilot project in London for the past two years. The initiative sees participating grocery stores throughout the city donate produce and bakery items to the food bank that would otherwise be sent to landfills in order to make room for new goods. The Real Canadian Superstore is one of 15 local grocery stores taking part in the food rescue program.
"Our food drive really began to change a few years back when we began talking about food literacy, the importance of food and the environmental impact of food. The Community Re-Fresh program is an example of keeping this going all year," said Jay Stanford, the city’s director of environment, fleet, and solid waste.
Throughout the food drive’s nine-day run, Londoners can drop off non-perishable food donations to local grocery stores and the city's 14 fire halls, or place them curbside in a bag tied with a bright coloured ribbon or labelled “food bank” for collection on their designated recycling day.
"It really comes down to where do Londoners want to participate," said Stanford. "If it is easier for them to do it right at the store, that's what we encourage them to do. If one of the 14 fire stations is ideal or if on their recycling day they want to put out a bag filled with non-perishable food items with a ribbon tied around the top of it, one of our volunteers' vehicles or the recycling truck operator will pick it up."
Curbside collection schedule:
- Friday, May 31 Zone C
- Monday, June 3 Zone D
- Tuesday, June 4 Zone E
- Wednesday, June 5 Zone F
- Thursday, June 6 Zone A
- Friday, June 7 Zone B
- Saturday, June 8 Donations still accepted at Fire Stations & local grocery stores
