Louis Balog is on the left, Jolanda Balog in the middle and Jim Oullette is on the right.

Stocking Oliver Food Bank shelves

Oliver, BC – More than 800 individuals require assistance from the Oliver Food Bank on a monthly basis. Meeting this demand requires a continuing stream of contributions from the general public. The BC Thanksgiving Food Drive (BCTFD) is a province-wide initiative organized to stock local food banks with essential items for those using their resources.

“We had phenomenal success across the province last year, in total we were able to collect some 250,000 pounds of food. And we’ve set our sights even higher this year by expanding our collection routes and reaching out to additional community partners,” said Andrew Rolfson, BCTFD Executive Director.

Local BCTFD volunteers will be delivering donation bags to residential addresses in Oliver and Osoyoos during the second week of September. Those who receive a bag and wish to donate should simply fill it with non-perishable food items and leave it on their front step before 9:30 am on Saturday, September 15th. The bags will be picked up that day and delivered to a local donation centre.

“We anticipate having more than 6,000 volunteers throughout the province this year,” says Rolfson. “We know many people wish to help, whether by volunteering or donating food. We welcome all who wish to participate, and hope we’ll be able to surpass last year’s results.”

The Oliver Food Bank is heavily reliant on the support of local residents. “Once again we welcome the efforts of the upcoming BC Thanksgiving Food Drive in assisting the Oliver Food Bank to restock it shelves. We do count on community support so we encourage you to support the drive. Some of the items we could use now are canned soups, mac and cheese dinners, instant noodle, canned beans, peanut butter, and canned tuna,” comments Jim Oullette – Treasurer of Oliver Food Bank.