Shelter House food drive takes aim at dwindling shelves

THUNDER BAY -- Shelter House’s shelves aren’t bare, but they’re getting close.

On Saturday volunteers from three different organizations spent the day outside grocery stores across Thunder Bay, collecting food and cash donations to help replenish the homeless shelter’s pantry.

Noel Parker of the Lakehead Thunderwolves men’s basketball team, who joined several teammates at the Memorial Avenue Wal-Mart location and said any opportunity to give back to the community is great.

“It’s a humbling experience too because you really get to help people who need it, right. In terms of u, we’re pretty blessed and the community has been good to us, so it’s always good to give back,” Parker said.

Twelve-year-old Emily Ukrainec said she likes supporting all good manner of causes, which is why she spent the day lending a hand.
“Not everyone gets to eat a lot of food and it’s a great way to share with them,” the Grade 7 student said.

Alexander Calderon, a development officer at Shelter House, the goal is to collect enough non-perishable food to help them get through the cold winter months ahead.

“Our shelves are getting pretty bare and we have a lot of people coming in,” Calderon said. “We serve about 150 to 200 people every meal – and that’s closer to 200 every single time right now. We are in desperate need to make sure those shelves are full.”

The top five items on their wish list are pasta sauce, canned beans, diced tomatoes, canned soup – in particular mushroom soup – and canned vegetables.

Members of all three Thunder Bay Rotary Clubs also donated time on Saturday to the effort, which is taking place at all of the city’s Metro locations, as well as the Wal-Mart on Memorial Avenue and at Westfort Foods on Frederica Street.

The drive continues on Saturday until 5 p.m.