Food drive makes ‘critical’ impact
The annual Welland Food Drive is a “critical” event in the community.
Hundreds of volunteers combed through the city picking up non-perishable donations in support of the 26th annual event before heading back to Auberge Richelieu, where everything collected was sorted and later brought to the three benefiting agencies — the Hope Centre, Open Arms Mission and the local Salvation Army.
Melissa Kirkpatrick, chief executive officer of Open Arms Mission, said without this effort, families across Welland would go a lot hungrier than many already do, pointing out that 30 per cent of the 700 people her organization provides for on a monthly basis are children.
“There are a lot of families that are impacted,” she said.
“We’re so very thankful of the city of Welland and all the volunteers who come out and support the different agencies,” she said.
Jon Braithwaite, in his first week as the new head of the Hope Centre, said the results from this year’s collection were inspiring.
“It’s amazing, the number of people who came out and made it
go smoothly,” he said as a flurry of activity took over Auberge Richelieu Saturday afternoon.
Cheryl Moore, program director for Welland’s Salvation Army, was also delighted with the turnout.
“Everybody pitching in with their resources is what allows this to happen,” she said.
Food drive co-ordinator Monique Finley did not know an exact weight of what was donated but said the response did appear to be abundant.
“The shelves were bare at our three main charities, and now they’re not,” she said.
“This is a great day for Welland.”