This past weekend we celebrated Welland’s annual food festival.
The rain didn’t dampen the spirits of people watching concerts and demonstrations or taking part in kids activities. And most of all, nothing could prevent the inevitable drooling over and consumption of food, food and even more food.
The food festival is very well promoted. People mark their calendars and think about what delectable menu items they are going to eat before they go. It is a fun (and delicious) family event. In fact, you could say that when autumn arrives residents have two things on their mind: back to school and Food Festival.
While I can not deny the tantalizing appeal of a bloomin’onion, there’s another annual food event taking place in less than one month that is more important than any yummy treat offered up by food festival vendors; the Welland food drive.
“Although the food drive has been held the first Saturday in November for nearly two decades, the biggest challenge is informing and then reminding the public to put their food out on their doorstep on November 6th, after 10:00 a.m. People’s lives are complicated and busy. They intend on giving to the drive but often that first Saturday in November comes and goes. It is our job to keep the Food Drive top of mind in this community,” says food drive co-ordinator, Monique Finley.
The food drive is a volunteer driven event. Residents are asked to place non-perishables on their door steps and volunteers collect and transport all of the food to Auberge Richelieu to be sorted and divided between Welland’s three food banks: The Hope Centre, Open Arms Mission and the Salvation Army.
The food banks rely on the November food drive, and without it people in our community- our neighbours- would go hungry because the food banks simply would not have enough food to give out. The food collected from this one event can usually keep the shelves stocked until about April.
This is my fourth year on the food drive committee, and it is an event I am proud to be involved with. We are in the planning stages well before the actual food drive takes place, and we are always looking for volunteers from our community to help make the event a success.
We try to create and implement new awareness campaigns to remind our community to put out donations on the first Saturday of November. We have a website ( www.wellandfooddrive.com ) and we will be plastering our city with posters and signs in the week leading up to the food drive. Our local schools will even be sending home reminder flyers with all Welland students.
If residents began putting a little bit of food aside each time they went to the grocery store from now until the food drive then the donations would increase significantly. The people of Welland have been extremely generous throughout the years, but sometimes we just need a few reminders of the need in our community.
People across Welland are facing job losses, plant closures and wage decreases. Taxes have increased. Not only are utilities rising (and we will soon be facing our first winter with the HST + hydro), but so is the cost of all living expenses- gasoline, clothing, and of course, food.
Let’s celebrate our community and our enjoyment of food with the food festival; but let us also pass this feeling along to those who need help. By joining together in a one day event we can alleviate hunger and make a true difference in our city.
If you are interested in volunteering to help out with the food drive please contact us through our website at www.wellandfooddrive.com or call: (905) 714-9151
Published September 2010 in Welland Tribune
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