Getting hungry

The shelves at the Thunder Bay Shelter House are going bare, but thankfully the annual food drive is right around the corner.

The 20th annual food drive will kick off on Saturday at six different locations across town. The drive is expecting to raise around three tons of food that should last until December. Volunteers will be available to take donations at the Quality Market, Wal-Mart and the three Metro groceries stores.

Tessa Murray, events and volunteer coordinator for the Shelter House, said on average they serve around 500 meals a day and that demand has increase over the years. She said it’s important to have this drive in order to make sure patrons are fed.

“We definitely need a lot more food,” Murray said. “We serve around a 150 people at the soup kitchen and we hand out sandwiches during the day at the door. It’s important that people in the community are eating and aren’t going hungry.”

Although there will be guides to help shoppers with their donations, Murray said they are out of coffee and sugar and need canned vegetables, soups, pasta sauces and hamburger meat.

“We see more and more people coming through the door especially with the winter months coming up,” she said. “It’s getting tougher. We especially need volunteers to cook the meals and serve them. It’s not just the food but we need the volunteers as well.”

The food drive will be running at all six locations from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, visit the Shelter House’s website.