CREMONA — The fifth annual Rural Roots Harvest Food Drive, held Oct. 3, was a huge success, says Dustin Farr, who, along with his wife Jody, helped organize it.
It was held at the MVE Heritage Centre (Big Red Barn) east of Cremona. Donations were gathered for food banks, including the Mountain View Food Bank.
MVE Heritage Centre owner Debora Rice-Salomons says 1,037 pounds of goods were donated worth a total of $2,748.05. Cash donations totalled $1,039.
She and Cowboy Trail Market owner Tom Mennear each contributed $350 to match cash donations for a total of $1,039.
As a result, Rice-Salomons said, a total of $3,787.05 is “credited for the Rural Routes Harvest Food Drive.”
The vegetable donations taken in during the event, combined with a large donation from The Honest Box (Kyle Aarsby) of Carstairs to the Airdrie Food bank, saw a total donation of 3,103 pounds of garden vegetables donated under the Rural Roots Harvest Food Drive banner.
Live music was provided by Dustin Farr and attendees who dropped off fresh vegetables got a chance to win prizes donated by local companies and vendors including a Dragonfly Ranch prize package valued at $320, donated by Dawn Lashmar of CIR Realty.
Organizers are grateful to all donors and volunteers, including members of the Cremona School’s Grade 12 graduating class who supported the initiative and helped pick vegetables for it.
“I believe this year was the largest financial donation that we have raised,” Farr said in an email to The Albertan.
“COVID did make things a bit more challenging as far as being able to organize gatherings for donations, but with a dedicated group of people we were able to make it work to get lots of donations brought in, which was great,” he added.
“The donation from The Honest Box really helped to push that weight of veggies up, which was over 200 pounds alone.”
