Loaves and Fishes Need Our Help

I had a great talk with Gerry Cresswell from the Loaves and Fishes food bank.  As you may already know, we are hosting the 11th annual Knock Out Hunger Night next Monday night at 6:00 PM. click here for more info.  I wanted to find out how things were going and what they needed most this year.

They are down by 16% from last year!

I wanted to help try and get the word out and so a press release was prepared and sent to the local papers.  In the event that it doesn’t get printed or you don’t get the paper, here it is:

Uxbridge, ON – For most of this calendar year, media coverage has inundated us with news of a struggling economy from far away places like Wall Street or Parliament Hill.  While the spotlight has been on numbers and banks, scant attention has been given to the people most affected in our own community.  “There has been a 16% increase in clients requiring emergency food supplies and a decrease in food donations,” according to Gerry Cresswell, Director of Uxbridge Loaves and Fishes Food Bank.

Now in its 20th year, Uxbridge Loaves and Fishes Food Bank is a charitable, non-profit organization that supplies non-perishable items to clients of all ages living in the Township of Uxbridge.  The most needed items are dry pasta, macaroni and cheese, pasta sauce, pancake mix, canned tomatoes, hamburger helper, tuna helper, cold or hot cereal, pork and beans, and toiletries.  However, it is critical that you check best before dates before making your donation.  Just last month, the volunteers at the food bank had to throw out 400 pounds of expired food, prompting Cresswell to say, “It’s not about cleaning out your cupboards.  But, adding an item or two to the shopping cart would go a long way.”

Depending on community support and donations, Cresswell is pleased to once again find allies in Scott Campsall of Okami Kai and Andy Luukkonen of Body Fit Health Club.

Now in its 11th year, the Knock Out Hunger Open House starts Monday December 7th at 6pm at 141 Reach St in Uxbridge (Body Fit Health Club).  “While the event takes place on one evening, the collection takes place over a few weeks,” says Campsall.  “Donating is as easy as bringing in a food item to Body Fit Health Club and putting it under the Christmas tree.”

Now in its 11th year, the Knock Out Hunger Open House starts Monday December 7th at 6pm at 141 Reach St in Uxbridge (Body Fit Health Club).  “While the event takes place on one evening, the collection takes place over a few weeks,” says Campsall.  “Donating is as easy as bringing in a food item to Body Fit Health Club and putting it under the Christmas tree.”

Now in its 11th year, the Knock Out Hunger Open House starts Monday December 7th at 6pm at 141 Reach St in Uxbridge (Body Fit Health Club).  “While the event takes place on one evening, the collection takes place over a few weeks,” says Campsall.  “Donating is as easy as bringing in a food item to Body Fit Health Club and putting it under the Christmas tree.”

If you are a local business owner and you want to join the effort to Knock Out Hunger, it would be greatly appreciated if you could donate a small prize to be raffled off December 7th.  All money raised will go to the Loaves and Fishes Food Bank.  “Anyone that donates a food item and buys a raffle ticket or any business that donates a raffle prize” explains Luukkonen, “will automatically be entered into a draw for one of two annual memberships at Body Fit Health Club.”  The event is geared towards kids and this year Santa is paying a special visit and will be bringing presents for the first 100!

I hope to see you there!

Andy Luukkonen

Owner, Body Fit Health Club