While you are out shopping this weekend consider donating to the House of Blessing Christmas Food Drive taking place on Saturday, Nov 30.
“We will be at No Frills, Wal-Mart, Zehrs, and Food Basic,” said Aaron Balzer, resource coordinator for House of Blessing. “We encourage everyone able to support us to come out and donate between 10 a.m.-3 p.m.”
All the donations raised will help fill the shelves at House of Blessing, ensuring that everyone can enjoy a well-fed holiday season. The event has drawn some interest from local groups looking to support the food drive.
“Our food drive will be supported by Stratford Police, and the Fire Department,” said Balzer. “We also have people coming from Purolator as well. It’s pretty special, I started just a few months ago and I get so many calls about doing a food drive or toy drive, it's pretty inspiring to see.”
House of Blessing supports a lot of people in the community: last year more than 15,300 people were supported, and that number has ballooned to over 16,000 and that isn’t counting November.
“The need in our community is rising,” said Balzer. “The holiday season is a busy time, and as it gets colder and our homeless population is looking to get out of the cold and find some food, we will see our numbers continue to increase.”
Whenever a food drive is taking place, people are always curious about what to donate, and Balzer said any non-perishable food items will be much appreciated.
“We are really in need of crackers, cookies, side dishes, you know things like hamburger helper and sidekicks,” said Balzer. “We could also use things like soups, peanut butter, canned vegetables, pasta and pasta sauce, and peanut free snacks for schools.”
House of Blessing is also looking for items that some people may not think of donating, but day to day items would also be helpful.
“We welcome everything, but we are also looking for donations of items that people need but are not necessarily food items,” said Balzer. “Things like bars of soap, shampoo and conditioner, body wash, dish soap, toothbrushes and toothpaste.”
