Prince George, B.C.-  With  everyone focused on  assisting Fort McMurray,  a local  food drive to help fill the shelves of the  Prince George Salvation Army Food Bank  may not have been on the radar for many people,  but  those who  did their grocery shopping at local Save On Foods on Saturday  answered the call in a big way.

Every year, Campbell’s has a “Help Hunger Disappear” campaign  in a number of communities across the Province.    On Saturday, that food drive  was held at all four Save-On locations in Prince George.   With volunteers on hand to  spread the word as  grocery shoppers arrived on site,  the food drive collected 5210 lbs of food  and nearly $2,000 in cash donations.

Prince George Salvation Army Business Manager Bill Glasgow says that with  the exception of last year,   the  Salvation Army Food Bank has been participating in the  Campbell’s Help Hunger  Disappear  food drive  since  2013 “We didn’t do it last year because of some scheduling issues,  but it has been a big help, it’s a very successful  food drive.”

May is not usually the time of year when  people are thinking about  food banks as major  food drives usually  take place  around  Thanksgiving and Christmas, but the  food bank  needs help  year ’round “We  have about 1500 families in Prince George each month who rely on the food bank” says Glasgow.  That translates to about 4300 people says Glasgow “The sad statistic on that is that about 43% of those using the  food bank are under the age of 16.”

The increase  in the number of people using the food bank has grown significantly since  the Salvation Army moved the  food bank from the  Church on Ospika  to  the new location on 18th Avenue “We were serving 800 families, about 1500 individuals at the church.  So with  it ( the new location) being closer to public transit and being much larger than it was,  we have  the space,  we have the facilities,  people can get there a lot  easier  we’ve seen  it go from 800 families to  1500,  so that’s almost double in a little over a year.”

Glasgow says  in addition to providing food,   the Salvation Army helps  the food bank clients  find a way “to  get  to where they want to be, not life planning, but  some personal development.  That’s one of the things we’re trying to do,  trying to help them with   their needs  whether its addiction management, or getting  a job, we can point them in the right  direction and journey with them  to help them get to the point where they don’t have to  depend on the food bank.”

But  the message  today is a  sincere thank you  says Glasgow, “To Campbell’s, Save-On Foods, those who donated and the many volunteers who were on site  at the  four  locations.  We want them to know we appreciate the efforts they make, and we are very grateful.”