THUNDER BAY – The Regional Food Distribution Association is looking for help to make a difference for less fortunate families this holiday season.
On Saturday, two local ambulance services, Ornge – Thunder Bay Base and Superior North Association of Professional Paramedics, joined forces for the second annual Fill an Ambulance food drive in support of the RFDA.
RFDA executive director Volkor Kromm said this is a high demand time of year for food.
“The whole concept of having emergency organizations helping us out is very special because quite frankly this time of year it is an emergency,” Kromm said outside the County Fair Mall.
“We are finding ourselves in situations where we cannot keep enough healthy food or enough cash to buy healthy food coming in the door to satisfy the need, so the emergency is real.”
A lot of stress is put on the RFDA to support its local food banks and community in Northwestern Ontario.
This year, the RFDA is in need of baby food products including formula, baby cereal and canned baby food along with the usual top ten items.
Emergency service officials are hoping to collect canned fish or meat, canned vegetables, canned fruit, canned soup, pork and beans, peanut butter, pasta, pasta sauce, and cereal.
“There’s a lot of demand,” Kromm said. “There’s a lot of higher expectations of families and children that are coming into town and naturally want to celebrate the holiday season.”
Last year’s event provided the RFDA with 2.4 tonnes of food and over $3,000 in monetary donations.
At the end of the day Kromm is hoping to see a lot of healthy foods being donated along with money donations, which will be put towards the Christmas food hampers.
“We really need to have a focus put on these food drives otherwise we will never make our target for this coming year.”
The RFDA’s food banks and feed programs provide the need for more than 13,000 people in the region.
Kromm’s favourite part about helping out the region is when children, and schools bring in donations.
He said the spirit of giving within these individuals is huge.
The food drive will be held at County Fair Mall Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
