By Gagandeep Ghuman
Published: Sept. 26, 2014
More than 50 volunteers visited some 4,564 homes and collected more than 8,200 pounds of non-perishable food for the Squamish Food Bank as part of the BC Thanksgiving Food Drive.
The organizing committee for the 2014 BC Thanksgiving Food Drive in Squamish expressed their heartfelt thanks to the residents of Squamish and the many wonderful volunteers who made this year’s drive such a success.
This is the fourth year that Squamish has participated in the province-wide event with every donation collected locally going directly to Squamish Food Bank. The Sikh Temple in Squamish also hosted a collection to support the event and contributed 1100 lbs of food to the effort.
The local event in Squamish is organized through a collaboration between the Squamish Multifaith Association and the Squamish Branch of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints working in partnership with the Squamish Food Bank.
Photo: Geraldine Guilfoyle
Several local businesses and organizations chip in to support the event with supplies and logistics such as tents, weighing scales and snacks for volunteers. Squamish Shell, ASM Squamish Scrap Metal, Corsa Cycles, Nesters and Sea to Sky Community Services all assisted in helping the event run smoothly this year.
Route volunteers come from a broad spectrum of the community, many for whom this service has become an annual event, said organiser Geraldine Guilfoyle.
“This year was a great success, over 1000lbs more food than 2013. The people of Squamish will once again be making a difference in peoples lives here in our community, said food bank coordinator Christina Rupp.
This past Saturday, the BC Thanksgiving Food Drive (BCTFD) collected in excess of 430,000* pounds of food throughout the province and visited approximately 250,000 addresses in 49 cities and towns.
