Donations down due to flood and fires; Okanagan food bank makes urgent appeal

The Central Okanagan Community Food Bank put out an urgent appeal for donations on Wednesday.

The food bank said it has been a rough summer for the organization as the region was hit by fires and floods.

Typically, the food bank receives 200,000 lbs of donated food every summer. However, this summer it has only collected half that amount.

The organization believes the drop is due to the natural disasters that have hit the region in recent months.

Because of the slump in donations over the summer, the food bank is hoping for an especially strong response to its annual Thanksgiving Food Drive.

This year, the event will be held from Sept. 11-16. During that time, donation bags will be dropped off at homes in Kelowna and West Kelowna.

Those wishing to donate can fill the bags with non-perishable food and leave them on their doorsteps. The bags will be picked up again on Saturday, Sept. 16.

Donations can also be made at food bank locations in Kelowna or West Kelowna during the food drive.

The organization hopes to collect 100,000 lbs of food during the drive to make up for the donations it didn’t receive this summer.

That would require a substantial increase in donations compared to last year’s drive, which collected more than 42,000 lbs.

– with files from Klaudia Van Emmerik