OLIVER — An army of volunteers with the Okanagan Gleaners Society is fighting hunger. Over the last couple of weeks, the volunteers have been busy chopping, dicing and dehydrating produce from all over the Okanagan, Fraser Valley and Alberta. This week, they are working non-stop to assemble and package the vegetable soup mixes.
“The whole intent is for us to feed the world in a small way,” says Lex Haagen, the society’s president.
This year, Haagen expects the soup mixes will provide six million meals to about 55 developing countries.
This is a big task that calls for many dedicated volunteers.
Henry Friesen traveled from his hometown in Le Crête, Alberta for this cause, bringing with him 180 barrels of dehydrated carrots and barley.
“We knew that there’s a demand to feed hungry people so that’s why we do it,” Friesen says.
There are also many returning volunteers, such as John Martens, 82, who’s been helping out since 1996.
He says he’s passionate about this cause because his family received similar aid when communism took over Eastern Europe.
“A lot of them and their neighbours wouldn’t have survived if they didn’t receive aid from North America. It meant a lot to me and it meant a lot to them,” says Martens.
Last year, Gleaners had about a dozen volunteers. This year’s turnout has more than doubled partly because it moved the soup-making process from winter to spring.
“One of the things we found is our workforce is all seniors, they don’t want to drive in the winter time so our turnout is a lot less,” says Haagen.
More volunteers may mean more soup in the upcoming years.
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