United Way’s Harvest Lunch feeds local families with virtual campaign

The United Way Elgin Middlesex 3M Harvest Lunch is trading in the ground floor of Budweiser Gardens this year for a virtual campaign.

As with many other big events, this year Harvest Lunch organizers have had to adapt their large gathering due to the novel coronavirus.

To help those struggling during the pandemic, people who buy a ticket for the lunch will be paying it forward.

Instead of buying lunch for themselves, people will be able to buy a meal for some in the community.

According to United Way, London is ranked third highest in the country for child poverty.

“Some of our funded agencies, like the South London Neighbourhood Resources Centre, are seeing an increase 10-fold of people visiting their emergency food cover,” said Kelly Ziegner, United Way of Elgin Middlesex CEO.

“They usually see 100 clients a month, and now they see over 1,000 individuals and families coming each month, looking for food to feed themselves and their families.”

United Way Elgin Middlesex and 3M are working to provide 2,000 meals to those struggling to access healthy food, safe housing, and other basic needs.

All meals are prepared by locally owned and operated businesses and delivered safely through the partner agencies to local youth, seniors, and families, the United Way says.

From Sept. 21 to 25, people can go to the United Way Elgin Middlesex website to donate virtually.