Lions food bank drive a hit

DIDSBURY - The Didsbury Lions Club had another successful food drive on Sept. 27.

Lions members and Westglen School students went out that evening and collected 5,728 pounds, which at a value of $2.25 a pound comes to $12,888, said coordinator Vance Van Dam.

"So that was up from last year, still a little down from 2016 but a fair bit better than last year," said Van Dam. "We also collected $1,190 in cheques and cash. So that's up considerably."

Van Dam said the evening went very smoothly with everyone on board and working well together.

"We're very pleased," he said. "The weather cooperated. We got everybody out by 5 p.m. I think the last unit got in right at about 8 p.m. Our timing was great. It was better than normal. We had less kids but we had a very good contingent from Westglen. It worked out great."

All the food and money raised will go to the Mountain View Food Bank in Olds, which helps families in need throughout the Mountain View County area.

"We had lots of help from our club," he said. "We had lots of units able to cover off the areas probably better than before. We're very pleased how it went. It just kind of clicked really good. We're happy. The food bank is happy.

"I just heard on the news recently that their stocks were down and the demand is up already. It's good timing to help them out. We're happy it all worked out."