The Business Cares Food Drive made its annual return on Tuesday with a campaign that will be unlike any before.
Recognizing the financial strain of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 21st edition of the campaign, which draws on the generosity of local businesses to support the London Food Bank, will be setting no goal at all for donations this year.
“We’re asking people to give, but only if they can,” said Wayne Dunn, the campaign chair for the food drive.
“Someone giving a $20 cheque… to someone giving a $100 or a $1,000 cheque, it all adds up.”
The change to the campaign comes after it netted a record total of 476,000 pounds’ worth of food during last year’s food drive.
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This year’s food drive has already seen early success, with the London Chamber of Commerce donating nearly $50,000 a little more than a month before the campaign’s kickoff.
Despite the hefty donation, Dunn told a campaign launch at RBC Place that the pandemic has already left a number of businesses unable to help.
“Unfortunately, as of (Tuesday), we have 90 businesses that have signed up versus approximately 200 at the same time last year,” Dunn said.
Dunn told Global News that while the pandemic would’ve made it easy for the food drive to be cancelled, it’s also the reason why it is so needed this year.
“People are losing their jobs, look at the restaurant industry right now, and although there are companies that have been quite successful, there are a lot of others that haven’t been,” Dunn said.
Jane Roy, co-executive director of the London Food Bank, says the local demand is starting to trend back up as the pandemic carries on.
“COVID hit, we spiked up, then most of the government programs started, people stayed home and we went down,” Roy said.
“Now we’re starting to see that creep up and it’s about 10 per cent every month that we’re going up.”
Roy adds that the London Food Bank has remained secure through constant support and generosity from the community.
“We are not struggling, per se. People are struggling,” Roy said.
“We don’t know what’s going to happen next year… but we’ll be there to help them.”
The Business Cares Food Drive will start by holding its annual grocery-store weekend on Saturday and Sunday. Volunteers from the campaign will be on site at various spots throughout London collecting food and cash donations.
Organizers of this year’s food drive are primarily seeking monetary donations in order to reduce the need for food pick ups. Money can be donated online using a credit card, gift card or PayPal and donors can also receive a tax receipt.
Businesses who collect food can contact organizers to arrange pickups on Dec. 17, Dec. 18 or Dec. 21.
Food can be dropped off on the same dates at the food drive’s headquarters at 1275 Hubrey Rd. or at the London and District Construction Association office at 331 Aberdeen Dr. Drop offs are by appointment only.
The campaign runs until Dec. 22.
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