THUNDER BAY -- As the holiday season begins to approach local food banks are bracing for their busiest time of the year.
Between the elderly, students, single parents and people who only have season summer employment, the fall and winter becomes a significant time of need for the Regional Food Distribution Association.
With the first traditional holiday feast only two weeks away, executive director Volker Kromm said this is a time when he hopes people think about picking up an extra item or two while grocery shopping.
“We see this big spike,” Kromm said Monday. “We’re asking them when they start setting their Thanksgiving table to think about regular giving towards the end of the year.”
The RFDA is launching their seventh annual Harvest for Hunger, a three-day food drive that gives the regional distributor a jump on the increasing demand.
The campaign comes at an optimal time for the RFDA, which is down to nearly the bare minimum in terms of priority items such as canned meat, juices, vegetables and other non-perishable sources of protein such as peanut butter.
“We’re down to about a palette and a half,” Kromm said.
The food drive, which will be taking place at all of the major grocery stores in Thunder Bay and across Northwestern Ontario, running from 4 p.m. until 8 p.m. on Thursday and Friday evenings. It will then go from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. on Saturday.
Kromm said the organization needs to raise at minimum at least 10 tonnes of food, though he hopes they will receive as much as 15 tonnes.
