With one bus ready to go, and another on standby, organizers are hoping to fill two busses at the annual campaign for the Salvation Army Food Bank.
Heather Colberg, who also organizes the annual Christmas food drive, said there is a need for a mid-year campaign to replenish the stocks of the food bank for those in need.
“I am hoping to fill two busses, that’s my goal,” said Colberg. “I have one bus lined up, but if we fill that one, we’ll bring another.”
Last year the event was combined with Encana’s Race Against Hunger, which follows the WPCA Dodge Pro Chuckwagon Tour. Now that there is no longer a WPCA event in the valley, community relations Advisor Luigi Vescarelli said they want to continue their support for the event.
“Last year we amalgamated the two events, and Heather was good enough to change the name to “Stuff the Chuck,” said Vescarelli. “Now that the WPCA cancelled…we still wanted to be involved with summer food banks, so it went back to Stuff the Bus.”
“It is important we continue to help even though the chucks aren’t here, so I asked and they said ‘yeah, make it happen.’”
To that end, Encana will give $2 for every pound of food donated, and match dollar for dollar and donations, up to a total of $10,000. Vescarelli said with the generosity of the community, they will be able meet their goals.
Stuff The Bus is on Thursday, June 28 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the ATB Financial parking lot. During this time residents can simply drop by and donate to the local Salvation Army Food Bank.
Any donation is welcome, and you can go to www.drumsa.org/donate-food.html to show what the Food Bank’s immediate needs are.
As of June, the Food Bank is critically low on pasta sauce, Chef Boyardee, canned fruit, soup crackers, instant noodles, Hamburger Helper and kids snacks.
