They gave bags, and in return, got a record amount of food to give to those in need.
Marc Vance and a team of 79 volunteers took part in the B.C. Thanksgiving Food Drive last weekend, collecting more than 11,000 pounds of food for the Comox Valley Food Bank.
"It was a really good success," explained Vance, who is the local co-ordinator for the provincewide drive undertaken by the various congregations of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
"We received two times as much food then last year," Vance added.
The drive was created to contribute and raise food for banks in respective communities across B.C.
Last year locally, volunteers raised 4,400 pounds of food, said Vance.
"We (had) flyers printed from ABC Printing and Quality Foods donated 4,500 bags. The flyer (got) stapled to the bags and members distribute(d) the bags on doorsteps around the community without knocking," he noted.
Volunteers collected the bags if they were on the step Saturday, and sorted the items before bringing them to the food bank.
"As we were loading the food, the assistant manager from Quality Foods came by and we told him we were just shy of 11,000 pounds. He said to stop by the store and their donation put us over 11,000 pounds," added Vance.
Provincewide, the initiative collected more than 402,000 pounds, which equals around $1.2 million worth of food.
Vance said he is certain the drive will happen again next year, but added he would like to find a storage locker to store the food for the bank.
"It's an overwhelming feeling to have so many pounds of food dropped off at once; it we can store it for them, then they can draw on it as they need for the next three months," he noted.
For more information on the food drive, visit www.bctfooddrive.org.
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