By David F. Rooney
Patti Larson is starting feel the pressure. Revelstoke’s largest and most important food drive is just one month away and the Community Connections Food Bank still doesn’t have a place it can store the thousands of pounds of food expected to be donated by generous Revelstokians.
Earlier this year Peter Humphreys, owner of Big Eddy Fuels had to tell the agency that he needed the space he had for years allowed them to use. That didn’t spark an immediate crisis but Patti, who is the agency’s community outreach manager, began quietly putting out feelers in town to see what might be available. (Please click here to read our original story about this.)
So far, nothing has turned up but with the annual Emergency Services Food Drive set to be held city-wide next month Patti’s beginning to feel anxious. The food drive typically gathers tons of badly needed food. The 2014 drive pulled in 11,500 pounds of food; in 2013 people donated 11,795 lbs; in 2012, 9,854 lbs; and in 2011 (the first year the Emergency Services Food Drive was held) 9,000 lbs of non-perishable foods. And then there are the thousands and thousands of dollars in cold hard cash people also donate to the army of volunteers (typically numbering in the hundreds) ranging from Girl Guides to Mounties, firefighters, paramedics, Search and Rescue specialists and Parks Canada wardens.
“We need about 500 to 600 square feet of space,” she said, adding that it must be dry, secure and rodent-free.
If you know where the Food Bank can locate suitable storage space please call Patti at Community Connections 250-837-2920.
