100 Mile House shoppers didn’t just Cram a Cruiser full of Food Bank donations this Christmas. They crammed the cab of a fire truck as well.
The local RCMP detachment teamed up with FreshCo, Save-On-Foods and 100 Mile House Fire Rescue last Friday to collect food and funds for the 100 Mile House Food Bank Society.
Staff Sgt. Svend Nielsen said the day went great, despite the cold weather and recent economic hardships.
“We had tremendous support from the community. I think we raised just over $5,000 in cash donations from the community and I can’t tell you how much in food donations,” Nielsen said.
Nielsen was stationed outside Save-On-Foods and said a steady stream of shoppers came by to donate money and groceries. At FreshCo, it was a similar scene with residents buying hundreds of prepackaged Food Bank bags prepared by franchise owner Daniel Broddy.
The pre-packaged bags included “the staples” including packs of spaghetti, tomato soup, granola bars and other items the Food Bank typically stocks, Broddy said. Although Cram the Cruiser is now over, Broddy said he will still be accepting donations up until Dec. 24 at the till. So far he said they’ve raised $4,000 from till donations and will gift the money to the food bank in January.
“I’m blown away. I can’t believe how much people have given,” Broddy said. “I ran some of the numbers before we left and it was over $3,100 in donations. People just give more and more, it’s amazing.”
There were so many who donated that Fire Chief Roger Hollander had to make sure the items didn’t tumble out during unloading at the food bank after the drive.
Food bank president Danny Williams said everyone in Cram the Cruiser involved did “a fabulous job.” Williams said this was especially welcome ahead of their Christmas Hamper day, which took place on Dec. 21.
“We’ve got food coming out of our ears right now,” Williams said. “It just tells you how good our community is. The people in this community are fantastic and the donations we’ve been getting lately have helped us immensely.”
patrick.davies@100milefreepress.net
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