COALDALE CARES:

The Drive Away Hunger trailer is unloaded and donations are brought into the Coaldale Food Bank during the Farm Credit Canada initiative October 5.

Not a usual Friday, but Farm Credit Canada (FCC) had a tractor and trailer to schools in Coaldale to collect food for FCC's Drive Away Hunger food drive.

“FCC: Drive Away Hunger is an initiative that we're thrilled to be part of,” said Steven Harris, district director for Lethbridge's FCC office of the Oct. 5 event. “It helps us connect the industry we support, agriculture, and producing food and some of the communities who are in need of food.”

Harris said FCC has been involved with Drive Away Hunger since 2004 and in 15 years, they have raised 40 million meals across Canada. Last year's food drive, raised over seven million meals across Canada, adding that the goal is the same for this year.

“We have tractor tours such as this in 9 provinces this year that are all happening in the first part of October in communities all across Canada,” Harris said. “We're also working to help support the school food programs; we've donated $100,000 across the country to various schools to help their food programs.”

Jennie Emery Elementary School had staff and fourth Grade students form an assembly line and pass the bags of food out to the trailer, where FCC volunteers loaded it. At St. Joseph School, staff and ninth grade students formed an assembly line and passed the bags of food outside, where FCC volunteers loaded 817.4 pounds of food into the trailer. After visiting the schools, the FCC made a brief stop at the Real Estate office to collect a donation of $2,500 that the Real Estate Office was donating to the Coaldale Food Bank.

The FCC team then traveled to the Coaldale Food Bank to drop off all of the food donations, which totaled 1,766.8 pounds.

“We're thrilled to be doing this,” Harris said.

“We're a part of these communities and we're just thrilled to be working with the schools and other partners in our Drive Away Hunger initiative to help support the Food Bank and the 80,000 people in Alberta that rely on food banks every year.”

Drive Away Hunger was to be in Lethbridge and Lloydminster Oct.11, Lloydminster on Oct. 12, Olds on Oct.15, and in Taber on Oct. 16.

Since Oct. 4, FCC Drive Away Hunger tractor tours have been happening in locations throughout British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan , Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island.

“We're thrilled to be a part of this,” said Ben Van Dyk, a Farm Realtor from the Coaldale Real Estate Office. “Hunger is something nobody wants. We're all in the food growing industry and I think it's important that everyone has food on the table.”

For more info about Drive Away Hunger, visit https:// www.fccfac.ca/en/in-yourcommunity/fcc-driveaway-hunger.html

The FCC Food Drive was celebrated in Coaldale Oct. 5.

Photo by Heather Cameron

Photos by Heather Cameron Left: Grade 9 students and staff from St. Joseph School bring food out and help load it into the Drive Away Hunger trailer. Below: Elder Pound and Elder Schmidt (right) from the Church of Jesus Christ of LatterDay Saints bring member donations to the Coaldale Food Bank.

Below left and right: The Drive Away Hunger trailer is unloaded and donations are brought into the Coaldale Food Bank.

Left: Students from Grade 4B at Jennie Emery Elementary School in Coaldale bring food out to the Drive Away Hunger trailer and celebrate their hard work.