Volunteers from Parkview United Church are hosting their first Food Drive for Hunger this weekend to help House of Blessing restock its food-bank shelves for the summer.
To help House of Blessing restock its food-bank shelves for the summer, volunteers at Parkview United Church will be hosting their first Food Drive for Hunger this weekend.
Volunteers will be stationed in front of the church on the corner of Ontario Street and Parkview Drive from 9 am to 1 pm on Saturday and 9 am to noon on Sunday, where they will be accepting donations of non-perishable food items.
“Part of our mission is to serve the community and abroad,” said Richard Cook, co-chair of the food drive. “We thought it would be a good idea to do a food drive because with COVID the need is ever increasing. So we approached them at House of Blessing and found out, to our surprise, one of the biggest times of need for the food bank is July and August.
“It made perfect sense when they said it to us, so we decided then that we would try and help out for that time of year.”
Because many people go on vacation during the summer months, the committee members decided to hold the food drive earlier in June while students are still in school so families across the city, regardless of whether they attend Parkview Church or not, can participate.
“The number of people reaching out to House of Blessing for food support is continually increasing,” House of Blessing executive director Theresa McMurray said. “The number of households we’ve served in 2022 has increased by 42 per cent over 2021. People are running out of money with the rising cost of housing, gas and food and they come to us for assistance when they are unable to make ends meet.”
When asked what types of non-perishable food items the people who rely on House of Blessing need the most, McMurray suggests locals donate whatever they can give.
“We always ask people to give what they would feed their family,” she said. “These items may include special-diet items, school snacks or non-perishables of all types. They all feed our community in need. We try to offer a balance of produce, eggs, meat and other frozen-food items, milk, bread, non-perishables, toiletries, diapers and formula, always with each household’s specific needs in mind.
“It truly takes a village to work together to ensure our neighbors in need are taken care of.”
The outreach committee volunteers will also accept cash or checks made out to House of Blessing during the drive, which helps food bank staff purchase any other needed items beyond what is donated. For donations more than $10, donors can include their names, phone numbers and mailing addresses to receive a charitable donation tax receipt from House of Blessing in the mail.
The committee decided to host the donation drop-off earlier in the day Saturday and Sunday, so there will be ample parking along Parkview Drive and nearby streets for those dropping off donations before weekend matinee performances at the Festival Theater begin. The volunteers are also offering curbside pickup for those dropping off donations so they don’t even have to leave their cars, if they so choose.
And for those who want to participate but can’t make it to the church over the weekend, on Friday from 1 pm to 4 pm the church volunteers are offering to pick up donated food items directly from the homes of Stratford residents. For more information and to arrange a pickup, call Cook at 519-504-0494.