Drive collects over 9,000 pounds of food for Food Bank

The Greater Westside came together with a spirit of generosity during the West Kelowna Fire Rescue’s 23rd Annual Holiday Food Drive.

Food and cash donations were collected until Dec. 15 at the four westside fire halls and were combined with donations from City of West Kelowna staff for a total of 9,084 pounds of food and $2,650 in cash donations. With the Central Okanagan Food Bank’s 3x buying power, the cash donation equates to $7,950.

“The Food Bank was counting on us so we are so grateful to all of the community members who dropped off their donations at our fire halls across the Westside,” said Fire Chief Jason Brolund. “Due to provincial health orders, we were unable to go door to door this year, but the community’s holiday spirit shone through with residents dropping off donations at our fire halls.”

Brolund added the annual food drive was also a success due to local business support including Big Steel Box, Crown Packaging and U-Haul.

The pandemic is financially impacting an unprecedented number of local households, according to the Central Okanagan Food Bank, which forecasts a 28 per cent increase in Christmas hamper requests this year.

“Each pound of food is valued at $2.60 so the food drive has essentially put $23,618 worth of food onto the shelves of the Central Okanagan Food Bank’s West Kelowna facility, and in-turn directly into the hands of our clients,” said Tammie Watson, CDO of the Central Okanagan Food Bank. “We are incredibly thankful to all our Westside residents for supporting the firefighters’ food drive and helping ensure no one goes hungry this holiday season.”

The public is encouraged to go online and support the Food Bank with an online donation at cofoodbank.com.