Hunger doesn’t take a holiday and the Virden and Area Food Cupboard doesn’t either. To help meet ongoing needs for grocery hampers this fall’s second annual Keep Families Fed food drive begins on the first of November.
This food drive is one of the significant projects to help stock the Cupboard’s shelves.
Myrna Bisson and Shirley Gibson are president and secretary for this philanthropy. Gibson says of this food drive, “It’s phenomenal.” She recounts the food cupboard received over 250 bags of groceries through the campaign last year.
Virden Dodge initiated Keep Families Fed food drive. “We have a Dealership in our group that does a similar food drive in their community, and we thought it would a great idea to do something for our community,” says Andrew Cymbalisty, general manager for Virden Dodge.
As the food drive, which begins on Nov. 1, wraps up on Nov. 19, Virden Dodge will have trucks parked at the Valleyview Co-op food store. There will be live radio onsite, along with the Keep Families Fed representative, Shelby Swanson.
Cymbalisty hopes for another productive event. “Last year there were 265 “Good Buy to Hunger” bags donated and $2,400 donated to the Virden and Area Food Cupboard. It was amazing to see all the contributions last year and hopefully this year is just as successful.”
Throughout the two plus weeks of the food drive, Virden Dodge will have a dedicated truck in their showroom, available to take donations. For those preferring to give a cash donation, there’s a box for those as well at the dealership.
Valleyview Co-op has turned out to be an ideal volunteer partner for the food drive grocery donations.
“Last year… I reached out to the Co-op to see if this was something they would like to participate in and thankfully, they were happy to be a part of the event,” says Cymbalisty, adding “This is something we would like to continue for many years to come.”
With the high volume of traffic at the grocery store, Virden Dodge approached Valleyview to partner with the Keep Families Fed food drive as a donation location.
Valleyview Co-op General Manager Greg Gill is happy to host a donation location again this year. “It’s a good partnership,” he says. “We have a lot of traffic through our store. On any given day we’ll see between 700 and 1000 people through the doors.”
Convenience is important for donors, so co-op staff will find out what the food cupboard needs and they will pre-fill bags that customers can purchase and donate.
Says Gill, “We’ll collaborate with the local food banks regarding the items that are needed. Our team will work together to make up some bags to be sure we’re addressing some of those shortages.”
Direct food donation drop-offs are also welcome at the store and cash gifts are always needed.
For the food cupboard, Gibson explains that perishable items (milk, meat and produce) are purchased just prior to filling the grocery bags that they give out.
Two churches in Virden offer space for the work of sorting and storing the groceries.
Supplies are shelved in a special room at Sacred Heart Catholic Church. The Baptist church supplies freezer space for groceries that require it.
The first and third Thursday each month four groups of volunteers take turns handing out the hampers. Recipients must apply by the Tuesday before to receive a hamper. For details, see posters at town locations such as the co-op food store and the churches.
Gibson gets help from school children on one Wednesday per month to pack the grocery hamper/bags for distribution. Her daughter is teacher Donna Cross. Her Grade 5 class spends one class period per month helping the food cupboard. “It’s great experience for the students,” says Gibson. And it helps the food cupboard volunteers.
This is not the only food drive to help with food security in Virden. The food cupboard is always happy to see Virden Oil Capitals players show up to do the heavy lifting.
