Another successful Big Blue Food Drive for St. Vincent Place in Sault Ste. Marie
St. Vincent Place in Sault Ste. Marie is thanking the community for another successful Big Blue Food Drive. Hundreds of volunteers drove around the city collecting food donations in what has become St Vincent's biggest annual event.
"It’s become an annual tradition for my daughter and I to drive around the city and collect the canned goods for St. Vincent Place," says Shauna DiGasparro, who along with her daughter Mackenzie, spent their Saturday morning collecting canned goods.
"I started volunteering at St. Vincent Place with my mom a few years ago," says Mackenzie. "I also volunteer in the food bank and the soup kitchen as well sometimes."
Shauna, who is also a board member at St. Vincent Place, says the ongoing pandemic and rising food costs have been putting a strain on the food bank.
"The more donations that we can get and the more community support that we can get, we can continue to provide this valuable service for the vulnerable people in our community," she says.
Meantime, Nat Cicchelli, Executive Director of St. Vincent Place, says the Big Blue Food Drive is expected to carry them into the winter.
"We do let out a lot of packages every Wednesday and Saturday to the people in need in the community," says Cicchelli. "The stuff collected today and in the last week will probably last us until about January."
It takes a large number of volunteers to pick up, deliver and sort the donations.
"The driving and collecting portion of the day we had 52 driver-runner pairs, so more than a hundred out helping with that," says Sara McCleary, who works in the office at St. Vincent Place. "Here today sorting, we're at about 40 because our capacity for the room is only 60 so we've got to limit it."
McCleary is the coordinator for St Vincent's "Lunches For Learning" program, and she says recent donations have allowed her to keep up with increased demand.
"With the outpouring of support we've had from the community, including the donations from the Dovigis and Algoma Steel, we're actually going to be able to pull some families from the wait list so that we can bump it up 130 families that we're going to help with our program now," she says.
McCleary and Cicchelli point out that although the Big Blue Food Drive is the biggest event for St. Vincent Place, it's important to keep the donations coming in year-round, especially with demand at the food bank continuing to increase.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Mystik Dan wins the 150th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in a three-horse photo finish
Mystik Dan won the 150th Kentucky Derby in a photo finish, edging out Forever Young and Sierra Leone for the upset victory.
Bodies recovered in Mexico likely 2 Australians, 1 American who went missing: officials
Three bodies recovered in an area of Baja California are likely to be those of the two Australians and an American who went missing last weekend during a camping and surfing trip, the state prosecutor’s office said Saturday.
No proof man lied to brother about number of kittens born in litter, B.C. tribunal rules
A man was denied a $5,000 payout from his brother after a B.C. tribunal dismissed his claim disputing how many kittens were born in a litter.
Work stoppage possible as WestJet issues lockout notice to maintenance engineers' union
A lockout notice issued by WestJet to a union representing aircraft maintenance engineers could result in a work stoppage next week.
'I just can't believe that it took so long': Body found in wreckage 3 months after deadly fire
A man accused of arson in a January Old Strathcona apartment fire is expected to be charged with manslaughter after a body was discovered in the burned building late last month.
Quebec police hand out hundreds of tickets to Hells Angels and other bikers before 'first run' meeting
Quebec provincial police handed out hundreds of fines to Hells Angels members and other supporting motorcycle clubs who met for their 'first run' in a small town near Sherbrooke, Que.
Princess Anne lays wreath at B.C. veteran's cemetery; receives 21-gun salute
Princess Anne paid tribute to veterans buried at a cemetery in British Columbia today, laying a wreath to honour the more than 2,500 military personnel and family members buried there.
London Drugs begins 'gradual reopening' on 7th day after cyberattack
Almost a week after all London Drugs stores across Western Canada abruptly closed amid a cyberattack, they began a "gradual reopening" on Saturday.
Russia puts Ukrainian President Zelenskyy on its wanted list
Russia has put Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on its wanted list, Russian state media reported Saturday, citing the interior ministry’s database.