Global Montreal aims ‘heavy’ for its annual Fill the Food Bank campaign

 MONTREAL – Global Montreal and Shaw are launching Fill the Food Bank campaign – its annual drive to fill food banks across the country.

In partnership with Moisson Rive-Sud, Global Montreal will be collecting food and monetary donations during the Fill the Food Bank campaign, which runs until Friday, May 11, 2012.

The event began in Montreal in 2010 with a goal of collecting one million pounds of food and the last campaign brought in more than double that amount. In Montreal alone, we raised over 46,000 pounds of food for our local food banks.

The nationwide goal this year is to double what was raised in our last campaign and to help fill our food banks with even more food this time round.

Viewers will be able to donate non-perishable food items at Shaw Direct and Global Montreal offices, as well as directly at the Moisson Rive-Sud.

Did you know that a donation of just $60 to a food bank can feed a family of four with one month’s worth of healthy meals? Monetary donations will also be accepted by visiting www.togetherisamazing.com.

Many food banks don’t just offer free food for those of us in need; they also collaborate with farmers and help organize community support groups, such as low-cost grocery stores, collective kitchens, purchasing groups and community gardens.

Montreal food bank facts:
* 13% of Montrealers that use a food bank have a household income
* Families with children make up a third of those helped by food banks in Montreal
* The number of elderly people helped in Montreal reached record highs in 2011
* More than 948,535 kilos of food goes through Montreal food banks every month
* Moisson Rive-Sud helps 36,934 people each month – and over a third are children
* The number of people who benefit from a food bank has tripled since 2008
* 31% of beneficiaries are families with children, 61% are single and 8% are couples

^{* Source: Moisson Montréal and Moisson Rive-Sud}