Annual Welland Food Drive aiming to help agencies meet increased demand

On Saturday, November 4, 2023 the community of
Welland will rally together to stock the shelves of The Hope Centre, Open Arms Mission
and Salvation Army food banks. This community-led food drive has been taking place in
Welland for over three decades on the first Saturday in November.

This year, food banks in Welland are seeing alarming numbers of visitors that are
struggling to feed their families. “More people than ever are facing food insecurity in our
community with close to 1 in 10 Wellanders accessing our food bank in the past 12
months. We are making every effort to keep food on the shelves” said Jon Braithwaite,
CEO of The Hope Centre.

We are helping people who have never before struggled to feed their families, here are
a few examples; Janice, a mother of 3 children, works a full-time job and finds it difficult
to put gas in her car to get to her job and buy food to feed her family. Joe, a father of 4
children, sacrifices the time that he spends with his family to work two jobs so his family
can eat three meals a day.

The Welland community and many communities in Ontario are dealing with a food
security crisis and local agencies are grappling to keep food on their shelves in order to
meet the increasing demand for emergency food.

“We recognize that everyone is feeling the pressure during these challenging economic
times”, said Daniel Harrison, Executive Director of Open Arms Mission. “We will only
make it through this together and we ask those who are able to give to maximize their
giving this year.”

“The Welland community has always answered the call and I have no doubt that
everyone in Welland will do what they can to help feed our neighbours in need”, said
Monique Finley, Planning Committee Chair of The Welland Food Drive.

How Can the Community Help?

Welland residents and businesses are invited to participate by donating online or
donating food at their doorstep.
Online donations will go towards purchasing of food items to help fill the Welland food
bank shelves. To donate online visit www.wellandfooddrive.com

Food donations can be made on Saturday, November 4 when over 400 volunteers will
be scouring the street, collecting food donations door to door. Welland residents are
asked to put their food donations at their front doors by 10 am on November 4.
The food donations will be brought to Club Richelieu on River Road for sorting and
distribution.

All donations will be distributed to The Hope Centre, Open Arms Mission and The
Salvation Army to help stock their food bank shelves so they can feed our Welland
neighbours for the months to come.