Food donations will help food banks replenish their stock of much-needed food items that families in distress desperately require.
The Feed the Need program will offer members and customers the opportunity to buy and donate a reusable blue bag filled with seven much-needed products for $10. “Donation of basic food staples to the needy has been made simple and straightforward,” says Yvonne Moore, Merchandising Coordinator at Co-op Atlantic, who coordinates the food drive in the region.
Shoppers will pick up a distinctive blue bag, placed near the checkouts, which will carry the selected food items and they will scan the bag as they pay their groceries.
The food items in the bag will include pasta, soups, canned ham and salmon, as well as dry cereal and evaporated milk. “These food products have been recommended by the food banks as being those in highest demand,” says Moore.
The food donation will amount to $10, which covers the cost of the food items. Co-op Atlantic will donate the bag—at a cost of 99¢ each. The bags will be part of the donation to the food bank. Now in its second year, the Feed the Need program has already donated more than $50,000 of food products and reusable bags for those in need.
Dianne Swinemar, Executive Director for Feed Nova Scotia, in Halifax, welcomed the return of the Feed the Need program, which will bring in more food to donate. She stressed the fact that the number of people who have received assistance from food banks this year has actually increased. Last year, some 20,344 people in Nova Scotia received assistance from food banks. This year, unofficial numbers are pointing to an increase of 13%, if not more, and 34% of those people are children.
Moore expressed confidence that Nova Scotians will once again show their generosity by participating in the Feed the Need campaign. “It’s easy, it’s simple, and it helps people at the most basic level, which is giving access to nutritious food. And helping people of our communities, day in and day out, is the reason why co-ops exist,” she added.
