In a year when many families continue to struggle to put food on their table, Loblaw Companies Limited (Loblaw) corporate and participating franchise stores across Canada continue to partner with local food banks to raise awareness, funds, and food to help those in need.
Starting this week, Loblaw stores and participating franchises launched the 2010 Extra Helping™ holiday national food drive to support local food banks. Customers are encouraged to donate non-perishable food items or make a cash donation next time they visit a participating franchise location. The goal is to raise $1.35-million and 1.2 million pounds of food across Canada in 2010.
Zehrs in Fergus is participating in a special program where customers can purchase a special Extra Helping™ soup can for $5 or $10.
Each can represents a number of the food bank’s most needed food items, which are listed on the can label. That approach makes it easy to donate as customers can now simply pick up the Extra Helping soup can, pay at checkout, and drop it in the donation bin on their way out. Food that has been purchased with each Extra Helping soup can will be sent to the Centre Wellington Food Bank.
Shoppers can also support the Centre Wellington Food Bank by purchasing or bringing nutritious, non-perishable food items and dropping them into the Extra Helping food donation bin at the Zehrs store or making a cash donation at the checkout.
According to Food Banks Canada’s annual count, in 2010, more than 860,000 Canadians relied on assistance from food banks to have enough to eat during an average month, compared to 800,000 in 2009.
According to the Ontario Association of Food Banks, the most needed non-perishable items include: pasta products, rice, canned meat and fish, dry and canned soups and stews, canned fruit and vegetables, flour, breakfast cereal, peanut butter, canned/powdered milk, fruit juices, pasta sauce, beans and legumes, infant formula and baby food. To assist food banks 100% of food donations and 70 per cent of funds donated in Ontario through the national food drive, are donated to the local food bank partnered with the franchise. The remaining 30% of donated funds support provincial food bank programs to ensure food banks in areas where the company does not have a store or franchise are still able to benefit from the food drive.
