20 years of giving: Residents fill bags for Calgary Food Bank’s 2024 collection drive – Calgary

Groups of volunteers worked Saturday to unload re-useable bags filled with donations in support of the Calgary Food Bank.

As part of a city-wide food drive, the event goes a long way in ensuring the food bank has enough supplies to last through the fall.

Melissa From, president and CEO of the Calgary Food Bank, said every year she’s blown away by the support the organization receives.

“Last year, I think we were just shy of half a million pounds,” From said. “We’d really love to break that record and be over that half-a-million-pound mark this year.”

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Since the pandemic, more and more Calgarians are using the food bank on a daily basis, which means food drives like Saturday’s are becoming more and more important.

“Food that would be collected from an initiative like this would last us well through the year,” From said. “The reality is that when you’re feeding over 750 households a day, it doesn’t last quite as long.”

From September 2023 to June 2024, the food bank received over 9.7 million pounds of food donations, including over 55,000 pounds of non-food donations such as diapers and hygiene products.

If you missed the opportunity to donate on Saturday, From said the food bank also accepts donations online, which helps it support those in need year-round.

“Every dollar donated to the Calgary Food Bank allows us to distribute $3.50 worth of food,” From said. “So those dollars can go a really long way.”