THUNDER BAY - After putting out a plea to the public to help fill its food stores, the Thunder Bay Shelter House is thanking the people of Thunder Bay for donating so much food during a recent food drive that the shelves actually broke.
“While we were stocking the shelves, we actually broke two because we had so much stuff that it ended up filling up to such capacity that it just broke off,” said Thunder Bay Shelter House volunteer coordinator, Katie Watson. “So that is super beneficial for us.”
The food drive was held this past weekend at five local grocery stores. Watson said holding the drive over two days really helped, as well as reminding shoppers about the items that were most needed.
“What we did differently this year is that in all of the stores, we made little plaques that said donated item to Shelter House near the items we needed the most,” she said. “It was a really good response because we ended up getting all of those items the most.”
Prepackaged bags put together by staff at all Metro locations were also a big help, Watson added, with the bags selling out and containing all items needed by the Shelter House.
The sight in the store room is now very different from how it looked in August. With donations tending to slow down during the summer months, Shelter House staff were working with next to empty shelves and reached out to the public for help.
“Half of this whole room is filled from the food drive,” Watson said. “We had a lot of empty shelves that were completely bare and they are completely stocked now. It was a good turnout for sure.”
Shelter House feeds more than 700 people a day and just because the shelves are full now, that does not mean there is no longer a need.
“We are hoping it lasts us until Christmas,” Watson said. “We do serve three meals a day every single day. It doesn’t take that much time for us to go through this food. So as beautiful as it is, we always need to continue to do this. We are very thankful to Thunder Bay to keep filling out storage.”
Shelter House plans to hold at least four drives a year. The next one is expected to be held after Christmas in the New Year.
