By Jacey Conway, Federation of Calgary Communities.
The holiday season is a busy time for many, especially the Calgary Food Bank and the many communities in Calgary donating to help feed Calgary.
Community associations across Calgary put on a variety of Christmas events to bring in members of the community and encourage donations. From Christmas markets, to craft days, thousands of pounds of food, as well as monetary donations, are collected and passed on to the Food Bank.
The Ranchlands Community Association has been donating to the Calgary Food Bank for over 20 years through creative holiday events such as their Christmas Craft Fair.
“We need to look out for one another in any way that we can- even if we remain strangers, we still have that common thread and when we donate to the Calgary Food Bank, we are contributing to the well-being of an individual or family that lives in this city,” says Kimberly Kelly, past treasurer and past event coordinator of Ranchlands Community Association.
Most community associations who donate to the Food Bank each year have been doing so for decades and plan to continue contributing in the years to come.
“It is important to acknowledge that there are small things we can each do that can collectively make a big difference in the circumstances of others,” explains Kelly.
Tara Wenzel, community engagement coordinator at the Calgary Food Bank, says she and the rest of her team are grateful for the contributions from communities across Calgary.
Although the holiday season is financially a hard time for many Calgarians, the Food Bank welcomes donations all year round.
Wenzel urges people to donate in whatever way they can, whether it be food, monetary or time spent volunteering.
“People give in creative ways,” says Wenzel, “every bit helps.”
This time of year, the Food Bank puts together roughly 500 hampers per day. Each Hamper could be feeding one person or 10 people. With the help of Calgarians and the many donations of communities, the Food Bank hit a record of how much food they distributed.
The Calgary Food Bank has new events happening each month to get Calgarians involved and they encourage people to reach out to get involved when they can.
“Now we can say ‘we did this together!’”
Click here if you are interested in learning more about the Calgary Food Bank.
