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Comox Valley Food Bank on receiving end of food drive

Getting more to give more is what Marc Vance hopes will happen, with the Comox Valley Food Bank being on the receiving end.

Getting more to give more is what Marc Vance hopes will happen next weekend, with the Comox Valley Food Bank being on the receiving end.

Vance is the local co-ordinator for the B.C. Thanksgiving Food Drive, which is a provincewide drive undertaken by the various congregations of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to contribute and raise food for banks in respective communities.

"We've done it for the last two years, and it's been fairly good," he said. "Last year we raised 4,400 pounds and this year we're going to try and double that."

Vance explained thanks to community donations from business, the church is approaching the drive in a unique fashion.

"We have flyers printed from ABC Printing and Quality Foods donated 4,500 bags. The flyer gets stapled to the bags and members will distribute the bags on doorsteps around the community without knocking and just leave the bags," he explained.

The flyer will explain the drive, and ask the homeowner if they wish to make a donation, to place goods and food in the bag and leave it on the step for pickup.

"If there's a bag there great, if not, no problem," added Vance.

Volunteers will collect the filled bags and return to the church to be sorted, and all of the donations will be brought to the food bank that afternoon by a truck donated by National Car and Truck Rentals.

"Our big goal is that the food bank is really in need, especially at this time of the year and to raise as much as possible," said Vance. "Next year, we're hoping to get even more community groups and sponsors involved."

Last year, on Vancouver Island alone, 13 congregations collected a total of 114,260 pounds of food. Provincewide, 63 congregations collected 352,588 pounds of food valued at $930,000.

Congregation members will cover areas within Comox, Courtenay and Cumberland beginning Sept. 19 and 20, with collection at 9:30 a.m. Sept. 21.

For more information, visit bctfooddrive.org.

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Erin Haluschak

About the Author: Erin Haluschak

Erin Haluschak is a journalist with the Comox Valley Record since 2008. She is also the editor of Trio Magazine...
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