Food drive raises truck full of food and almost $2,000 for Salvation Army

With food insecurity a problem for many, Discover Estevan thought a fundraiser was just the thing to help food banks fill up their shelves.

That was the basis for the Fill The Truck Food Drive, in support of the Estevan Salvation Army.

A truckload of Food was collected from numerous donators while we were at the Southern Plains Co-op, along with $1,957 in cash and cheque donations. There were 106 pre-packaged hampers bought at $10 apiece, included in the donations.

Ronza Reynard, the Director of Ministry for the Estevan Salvation Army, says that they've had a lot of work this year.

"We've been quite busy coming into the new year and we had a really good, successful Christmas with a lot of stuff coming in. But yeah, when you're seeing over 200 people a month, that food doesn't last long. We think about when we go grocery shopping ourselves, when we pick it up and we are just surprised at how little we have for what we paid for. So a lot of people are accessing the food bank right now and this support is wonderful to get our shelves a little more restocked."

"When you have 200 plus people, that's individuals. So think about that, if we run those into families of three or four, that's a lot of families coming to the food bank. The amount of food that we're able to give them when they come through, it doesn't take long to go through our shelves, that's for sure. So having a food drive is wonderful."

Cash donations were also accepted, with those also helping to get food to those in need.

"Any donations that people are bringing in that are monetary, we use that to go shop, to also fill our shelves and also to buy our non-perishable items or our perishable items because we want to make sure we're giving a good balance in the food hampers. Also, our food hampers are not pre-made, the clients actually shop in our food bank to pick their own items. 

Those looking for any help with their food situation can call the Salvation Army for help.

"If we have individuals or families in the community who are needing a little extra support at any given time, they can just phone down to our office and make an appointment to meet with our Family Services people. They'll have a little chat with them, fill out some paperwork, and we'll be able to help them right on the spot as soon as they have come for that appointment."

We would like to thank all of our sponsors for making the event happen, including Murray GM, Southeast College, Mid-City Plumbing & Heating, Great North Wellhead & Frac, TSB Oilfield Construction, Inland Kenworth, AMP Motors, AM to PM Hotshot, Western Fiberglass, Dean & Daughters' Repair Shop, DMS Services, Fusion Industries, and Microtel Estevan.