It almost seems too good to be true … but it is. The St. Albert Food Bank usually thinks of Christmas as the season of giving. They usually have to give so much because demand is much higher at the end of the year when people struggle to pay their bills.
Not so this time around. Executive director Suzan Krecsy said that the cupboards are far from bare.
"It was really busy but St. Albert was just amazing with the amount of food they donated. It was just incredible."
The food bank received more than 13,600 kilograms of donated food during the month of December and only had to give out approximately 11,000 kg. That's pretty comparable to their average monthly outgoing numbers of 10,000 to around 11,300 kg and left them with a one-month surplus of more than 2,500 kg.
"The stuff that we got in was absolutely incredible. The support was just unbelievable. We're in a good position right now, but January is always a busy month for us because everybody is coming in after Christmas. That's holding true right now."
On site, there's nearly 87,000 kg of food, enough for several months of hampers at the same pace. She praised the schools for helping out with their own recent food drives. Paul Kane High School just made a sizable donation earlier this week.
"A ton and a half of food," Krecsy exclaimed. "It's more than nice. The kids are spearheading these drives, which is just incredible. There were kids from the St. Albert Children's Theatre who went around carol singing on our behalf. The kids are just phenomenal."
The centre also gave out 150 holiday hampers to local families in need and hosted its first annual Christmas banquet held at the Shiloh Pentecostal Church on Gate Avenue. There were 60 people in attendance but they actually cooked for 100 so people got to take home the leftovers, pleasing everyone all around.
"It was really good for the first year, so people are asking for it again."
The food bank helped more than 6,000 people in 2011, a slight decrease from the previous year.
The St. Albert Food Bank and Community Centre is located at 50 Bellerose Drive. Call 780-459-0599 for more information.
A whole lot of footwear
Bridget Reschke is up to her knees in shoes and boots, all for the sake of charity. The local woman has been collecting the footwear to make a substantial donation to impoverished residents in Ukraine.
According to its website at www.hart.ca, Humanitarian Aid Response Teams is a Calgary-based Christian relief aid and missions agency that is dedicated to serving the poor, as well as equipping and empowering the indigenous church in Eastern Europe.
Reschke has been supporting its program to amass 10,000 pairs of shoes. She has been asking around and even sending out messages through Freecycle to get the word out and drum up donations.
"We're just a homeschool family so we've been doing it as a kind of outreach thing."
So far, she's up to 25 pairs but doesn't have a set goal in mind.
"The more, the better," she laughed.
She's collecting any and all types of shoes and boots – especially for teens – so long as they are new or gently used. They'll all be shipped over in the spring.
Donations can be dropped off at 34 Langholm Drive.
