A last minute push combined with the generosity of Londoners helped the Curb Hunger Food Drive bring in nearly 50,000 lbs of food for the London Food Bank.
The 22nd edition of the drive saw 49,360 lbs of food donated, a slight increase over last year when 47,030 lbs was collected.
“For the first half of 2018, an average of 3,360 families are using the Food Bank on a monthly basis. This food drive will be very helpful during the summer months ahead,” said Jane Roy, co-executive director of the London Food Bank. “The food bank wishes to acknowledge the tremendous generosity of Londoners during this food drive and thanks those involved with the Grow-a-Row program.”
The Plant a Row - Grow a Row program asks families to sign up to plant a row of produce in their gardens to be donated to the food bank at harvest time. Anyone who wants to participate in the program can still do so by registering at Londonfoodbank.ca.
Over its 22 years of having residents place bags of non-perishables out with their blue boxes on recycling day, the Curb Hunger Food Drive has brought in almost 1.4-million lbs of food.
“No child should ever go to school or bed hungry and we need food drives like this to make this a reality," said Mayor Matt Brown.