OLDS — A deal has been struck between Mountain View Food Bank (MVFB) and The Albertan in which the Sept. 22 edition of the paper will be placed inside MVFB bags.
The idea is to promote the food bank’s annual food drive, which will be held Saturday, Sept. 26.
Mark Proctor, project coordinator, said in previous years, local grocery stores would donate bags for the food collection. Flyers featuring instructions on how to donate food would be printed up and then attached to those bags advertising the drive.
But Proctor said this year, due to COVID-19 protocols, volunteers weren’t allowed to gather in large numbers to staple the flyers to the bags.
So they followed the lead of a couple of larger food banks and worked with a company to have those instructions printed right on the bags themselves.
Proctor is grateful to Dairy Queen in Olds, which stepped up to sponsor the project by covering those printing costs.
Then, a deal was struck with The Albertan to have the newspapers placed inside the bags and have carriers deliver them with the advertising and instructions all in one package.
Proctor, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, says members of that congregation and of St. Stephen’s Catholic Church have volunteered to coordinate the project since about 2015.
“There’s a lot of people who volunteer from both churches and others to help, and we’re really grateful to have The Albertan help us out this year with the delivery,” Proctor said.
He pointed out that people in communities across Mountain View County have stepped up to help.
“We’re pleased to work with the food bank, it’s a good cause,” Albertan publisher Murray Elliott said.
Elliott hopes distribution via the paper will spur people to give more to the food bank this year, given the strain created by COVID-19.
“This year of all years, people are struggling and I’m sure there’s a lot of pressure on the food bank,” he said.
