The Target Hunger campaign, an initiative between Lethbridge Food Bank and Interfaith Food Bank, collected over 50,000 pounds of food.
This years goal was to collect around 50,000 pounds and 56,000 pounds were collected.
This year Target Hunger took place on June 10th, and along with food donations, financial contributions were accepted with the total value of community contributions over $190,000.
The food donations will help to restock the shelves at both food banks, and donations are still coming in. Those in the community who did not have their yellow target hunger bags picked up or are looking to drop off some donations, can do so by either dropping off their donations at one of the food banks or at local grocers this week.
“We’re thankful for everyone who participated by putting a bag out on their doorstep and are equally grateful to the community volunteers for organizing the event and recruiting the people and resources necessary to complete all of the work on our behalf,” says Executive Director of the Lethbridge Food Bank, Mac Nichol.
“We couldn’t pull off a food drive of this size without the support of the community and the hundreds of volunteers that pitched in to help,” adds Nichol.
Danielle McIntyre, Executive Director of the Interfaith Food Bank, says, “We were unsure of the response we would get this year. For some families, the cost of groceries is just too high to be able to support others right now, while others may have the capacity to step up and help a little more when times are tough.”
“The sheer volume of what was collected from the community this Saturday was wonderful,” adds McIntyre.
Food banks in the area have been experiencing some increased demand for food with the current economy and prices. Each food bank in the area processes around 70,000 pounds of food each month and during the summer months stocks tend to get lower.