BY KALISHA MENDONSA
Lacombe Express
The Lacombe Food Bank is hoping community members take part in their annual October Food Drive, in partnership with the College Heights Seventh-Day Adventists Pathfinder Club.
Members of the Club will be taking time to leave plastic grocery bags on each door throughout the City during this week, to be collected on Oct. 29th. Members hope the bags will be filled with non-perishable food items that can be collected between 3:15 and 5:30 p.m. by leaving the bags on a front step or outside a front door.
Millie Snow of the Lacombe Food Bank said there is a definite need in the community to stock the food bank shelves, and that she hopes people will give what they can.
“Our need is up a bit from last year, and last year we had a really big jump. That was probably with the oil patch and people losing their jobs. Lots of food banks are going up in numbers, but we really noticed that jump in our hampers for November and December,” Snow said.
The organization prepares an average of 140 hampers each month, with those numbers rising in the winter, according to Snow.
The food bank also distributes a wide variety of goods and foods, including but not limited to peanut butter, jam, granola bars, rice, cereals, pastas, gluten-free foods, diabetic-friendly options, baby food, fruit cups, juice boxes and other canned goods.
Snow said she is incredibly thankful to the Pathfinder Club for their assistance, and to all those in the community who support the Lacombe Food Bank. She said they are often overwhelmed by the kindness of the community.
“We always need things like flour and sugar that we can re-package from larger bags. As well, we need all kinds of soaps for our hampers - dish soap, laundry soap and hand soap - and toilet paper. In the hampers, we provide basics like macaroni and cheese, tomato sauces and other things,” she said.
“In our lunch bags for the kids, we do foods like granola bars, pudding, fruit cups, juice boxes and sometimes a treat like potato chips or a sweet.”
Snow said many people are unaware of the food bank’s need for baby goods - such as diapers, baby food and formula - and that the food bank distributes household goods such as hand soaps and dish-washing/laundry soaps. She also mentioned a need for items like coffee and tea, in addition to dietary-need specific foods for those with diabetes and gluten allergies.
Items not collected or missed through the food drive can be brought directly to the food bank, where the office hours run Tuesday and Wednesday 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., Thursday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. and Friday from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
kmendonsa@lacombeexpress.com