Sobeys Atlantic lends hand to local food banks

Sobeys Atlantic recently launched a food donation and fundraising campaign aimed at supporting community food banks in the Atlantic provinces. The 'Fill the Food Bank. Fuel the Community' campaign runs for three weeks, until December 2.

The company is rallying employees, suppliers and customers throughout its network of more than 300 stores to donate food and funds, all of which will directly support local food banks and food bank associations. As Food Banks Canada figures show, in March 2009, over 70,000 individuals used food banks in Atlantic Canada. More than 25,000 of them were children.

As part of the campaign, community fundraising initiatives are being held at all of the company's retail stores in the region, which include Sobeys, Foodland and Price Chopper. Customers can also buy $2 paper ornaments to support the cause or donate non-perishable food items at any of the aforementioned stores.

The importance of food banks is especially relevant now, as evidenced in data released yesterday by Food Banks Canada. A new report by the group shows that food-bank use in Canada has risen 9.2% in the past year. This is mostly attributed to the effects of the recession. In fact, the number of people using food banks is now at the highest level since 1997.