Campaign Chair, Wayne Dunn,  launches the 2015 Business Cares Food Drive December 1, 2015. (Photo by Miranda Chant, BlackburnNews.com)Campaign Chair, Wayne Dunn, launches the 2015 Business Cares Food Drive December 1, 2015. (Photo by Miranda Chant, BlackburnNews.com)
London

Businesses Giving Back

Just like Santa Claus parades and hanging Christmas lights, another holiday tradition is underway in London - the Business Cares Food Drive.

The annual food drive that challenges businesses of all sizes to collect food donations for the London Food Bank kicked off the 2015 edition Tuesday.

Last year, the Business Cares Food Drive brought in 290,870 lbs of food. This year's goal is one pound more than that.

So far, over 130 London businesses have signed up to participate in the 16th edition of the food drive, with officials hoping that number will jump to 400 by the end of the campaign.

"There is no donation that is too small or too large. We can accommodate either," says campaign chair Wayne Dunn. "Whether you're a two person operation or a 100 or 200 person operation, we can arrange pick ups that we do the last three days of the campaign."

This year, the campaign has taken on a Star Wars theme with "awakening the force of healthy food". It is a push to remind donors to think protein, multigrains, and vegetables when choosing items to give.

"A nutritionist actually went through what we were giving out at the food bank. We tend to think of what we give out in terms of meals, she looked at it nutritionally and said where we are falling short," says Jane Roy, Food Bank Co-executive Director. "We were falling short in the serving of proteins, fruits, and vegetables in particular. So we are trying to up the serving of those groups in the hampers we give."

Other activities taking place during Business Cares' three week run include a Metro Weekend December 12 and 13. Drive volunteers will be outside 12 grocery stores throughout the city from 9am to 5pm. They'll hand out donation bags to shoppers to fill with non-perishable donations and bring back to them.

All donations collected during the food drive will be delivered to the London Food Bank on the morning of December 22.

Demand for the Food Bank is down 10% with 3,160 families relying on their services a month. Although Roy expects to see a surge again in the new year.

"January tends to be our busiest month of the year," says Roy. "There are lots of places for people to go for help during the holidays, the Salvation Army does Christmas hampers, which is great. There are lots of Christmas meals throughout December. So in many ways it's after Christmas where there is a tremendous need and that's where the food donated for Business Cares will be really useful."

Any business looking to get involved with the Business Cares Food Drive can do so by registering on their website www.businesscares.ca.

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