Food bank needs help; JCIs doing their part
New clients are showing up every day at the Penticton food bank, which make the forthcoming — and extraordinary — efforts of a group of volunteers even more important.
Junior Chamber International is hosting its third annual food drive next Saturday, May 2, outside Cherry Lane Shopping Centre.
JCI past-president Harpreet Sidhu, who’s helping organize, said co-ordinating this year’s food drive is “a different kind of harder” than in past years.
“This one, we had cut the locations down to one and on the number of volunteers we needed, but we had a lot more logistical stuff to do in the background,” said Sidhu.
The logistics include figuring out how to keep volunteers and donors safe, plus making sure the donations are sanitary. That led to the drive-thru concept.
“So what would happen is you would drive up, you would open your door, put the food on the ground, wave at us, and leave,” explained Sidhu.
Volunteers wearing personal protective equipment will then take the donations to a table, where items be sanitized using bleach solution, before being taken to the food bank, where they’ll sit in quarantine for five days before being distributed.
Last year’s drive collected 1,600 kilograms of food and $785 in donations, highlighting the need for the effort to continue in 2020.
“We went back and forth trying to figure out a way to make it work since there is such a large demand for food at this moment,” said Sidhu.
Salvation Army food bank manager John Rankin confirmed COVID-19 has “dramatically changed” how the service operates.
“We are no longer using the shopping model where people could pick their own food, but have changed to pre-packed hampers and distribute them outside. Also, due to social distancing we can only have a limited number of staff and volunteers in the building,” Rankin said in an email.
“Many of our volunteers are selfisolating due to age and health concerns, so a couple of staff members have been added.”
“Along with our regular clients,” continued Rankin, “we are now seeing new clients on a daily basis who have been affected by COVID and find themselves in need for the first time.”
Food drive organizers say there is a particular need for some particular non-perishable items right now: pork and beans, Chef Boyardee products, canned meats, pasta sauce, canned fruit, rice, soup, small juice boxes and bottled water. Some perishable items will also be welcomed: potatoes, onions and carrots.
The food drive goes Saturday, May 2, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., in the southeast corner of the Cherry Lane Shopping Centre parking lot.