Food drive popping up at two Welland locations Saturday
Most Wellanders would likely recognize Brad Ulch’s truck.
It’s a black Ford F-150 decorated in logos from local businesses and organizations.
Why are these decals all over his vehicle?
They are sponsors and contributors to various food drives he has organized in the city over the past five years — which started when he got involved with one at the annual Floatfest event.
The city borrowed his help last year for a Fill the Net food drive when Rogers Hometown Hockey visited, and he has also pitched in for food drives that were part of the concerts on the canal series.
A former client of The Hope Centre and Open Arms Mission, Ulch opened his King Street business, Budget Appliances, about five years ago.
It’s been a success since then. When he was in a position to give back to the community, he made it his mission to balance work with collecting food throughout the year for both agencies.
“When my store started going well, I wanted to give back to those who helped me,” he said about Open Arms Mission and The Hope Centre.
On Saturday, a pop-up, drivethru food drive will be set up at two locations — The Kavern at Maple Avenue and Prince Charles Drive, and Grumpy Gramma’s on Primeway Drive.
Vehicles can pull up and make “no contact” donations at both restaurants from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The event replaces a food drive that would have normally been part of the annual Welland Zombie Walk, which has been
cancelled due to COVID-19.
Establishments including Trappers, Mr. Mike’s, and Borderline Bar and Grill have donated gift cards that Ulch gives away on social media to promote the event.
Last year’s Zombie Walk
brought in $1,500 for The Hope Centre and the mission, as well as about 1,350 kilograms of food.
He hopes the two-site food drive will exceed those numbers.
Ulch is also selling raffle tickets for a freezer donated by his store, which is full of about 225 kg of meat courtesy of Chuck Simpson Meats.
The city’s annual food drive, for which thousands of kilograms of non-perishables are sorted at Auberge Richelieu, is focusing on a virtual format this year.
Its committee has set a lofty goal of raising $100,000, a number based on the 45,000 kg of food regularly collected at the event, said organizer Monique Finley in a news release.
A push to recruit businesses that will make financial donations is also part of the plan.
According to the release, there are close to 5,200 people in Welland who are dealing with food insecurity.