Feed NL day is on! CBC NL, in partnership with the Community Food Sharing Association, is collecting donations to keep food banks full of much-needed items now and throughout the year.
Your caring and kindness are driving this campaign, making the holidays brighter for families in need across the province.
“It’s an amazing day for us. Not only are we raising an incredible amount of funds that can be distributed across the network, but we’re getting a lot of awareness,” said Wanda Hillier, Community Board Chair. Food Sharing Association.
“It’s so important to us as we try to get the message out not just about what we’re doing, but also that hunger is a real issue in many parts of Newfoundland and Labrador right now. time and in Canada.”
Between 2021 and 2022, there has been a 27% increase in food bank visits in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Hillier said food banks in NL. feed only about 40% of the population that needs them and that 30% of total use comes from children and 7-10% from the elderly.
“We have a lot of hungry people in the province right now,” Hillier said.
Joy Connors, coordinator of the Bay of Islands Food Bank Network, said her group responded to 327 more food requests this year than last. She said she was seeing more new families in need of help, people who had never used a food bank before.
“It’s extremely busy. Food banks are busy every day,” Connors said, pointing to the rising cost of living as the root cause.
Donations started arriving early Friday.
At a Friday morning event, Trades NL donated a check for $5,000.
“It’s a tough time of year for many families and members of the building trades are always happy to give back,” said Darin King, Managing Director of Trades NL.
Lesley Burgess, director of operations at Bridges to Hope, said it was becoming increasingly difficult to keep food bank shelves stocked this year.
She said the group serves between 200 and 300 families a week in the northeast Avalon Peninsula.
“We also recently started opening on Wednesday evenings, and that was in response to a really dramatic increase in the number of workers visiting the food bank,” Burgess said.
“Some days are definitely very heavy, and we kind of scramble all the time now to make sure we have the resources we need for people.”
How to make a donation
CBC NL broadcasts live from the Avalon Mall in St. John’s, starting with Intercom and host Adam Walsh from 1-2 p.m. located near Lululemon.
From 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Ready to go will be live with host Anthony Germain.
From 6-7 p.m., hosts Heather Gillis and Ashley Brauweiler will be live with Here Now.
In the midst of it all, from 1 p.m. until 5:30 p.m., spectators can stop by the gazebo for drinks, entertainment and a chance to win prizes, all while supporting local food banks.
Donations can be made in person at the event.
Radio-Canada Newfoundland Morning went live from Robin’s Donuts to Gander and Sugar & Dice in Corner Brook.
Donations can also be sent directly to the Community Food Sharing Association or dropped off in person through the end of December: PO Box 6291, 21 Mews Pl., St. John’s, NL, A1C 6J9.
Online donations are also accepted here.
In-person donations cannot be accepted at CBC branches.
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