Drive-by food drive coming to Innisfail

INNISFAIL - Yellow bags will be arriving on Innisfail doorsteps around Oct. 25 to make donating to the food bank quick and easy.

Local members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is planning a food drive to benefit Innisfail Food Bank by dropping the bags off on Oct. 25 and returning on the morning of Oct. 28 to collect the bags that have, ideally, been placed back out on the front porch filled with non-perishable food donations.

“If everybody could donate even just a can of food out of their cupboard, that would be 5,000 cans of food and that would be huge,” said Jennifer Stephan, the food drive co-ordinator for the Red Deer stake of the church.

Stephan said the yellow bags should arrive on the Wednesday or Thursday before the Saturday event. Between 10 a.m. and noon on Saturday the bags will be picked up, or donations can be dropped off at the church building, located 5698 - 55 Ave. Cres., even if a bag hasn't been received.

The church has been doing similar twice-a-year food drives in Red Deer for the past eight years but it hasn't been done in Innisfail for a few years.

“We're coming back and we're hoping to make it a regular event,” Stephan said of the Innisfail food drive.

Carole Sim, co-ordinator of the food bank, said there is always a need to help fill the shelves.

While the first quarter of the food bank's year, which starts in July, shows a 17 per cent decrease in hampers given out compared to July-September 2016, or 234 hampers given out during those months this year versus 283 prepared during the same time last year.

That decrease is good news, Sim said, but she also notes the seasonal workers will be out of work soon.

“We always see an increase this time of year,” she said.

The July 2015 - June 2016 year at the food bank saw a 25 per cent increase in hampers given out over the previous year, for a total of 1,162 hampers.