Bramptonians called upon to help food banks

  • 2011-04-15
Bramptonians have big hearts and are being called upon again to contribute to area food banks. April 8 marked the beginning of the 2011 Extra Helping™ Spring National Food Drive. Last year, food banks helped 402,056 people in Ontario. This represented a 7.4% rise above that of 2009. Ed Barkowski, executive director of the Ontario Association of Food Banks (OAFB) said:
“More than 402,000 Ontarians each month need our assistance to help provide nutritious meals for their families. Programs like the Loblaw 2011 Extra Helping™ Spring National Food Drive help us to stock our shelves year-round and continue to serve families across Ontario that otherwise would go hungry.”

Contributors in Brampton may drop non-perishable foods at No Frills, Fortinos and Real Canadian Superstores, during regular store hours. As well, donations of cash can be given at the checkout.

The OAFB, which is comprised of 20 area food banks and 100 community food banks in Ontario, is to collect $1.2 million. They would also like to see 1.2 million pounds of food come in, which would then be distributed to Canadian food banks.

Food items that are in high demand are canned meat, canned fish, canned fruit, canned vegetables, flour, past products, peanut butter, soups, stews, fruit juices, breakfast cereals, powdered milk, canned milk, beans, baby food, infant formula, pasta sauce and legumes.
As with any charity campaign, public awareness is everything. Poster and banner printing companies in Brampton are on hand to provide the benefit of their experience in getting a message across to the public.