Prince George, B.C. – The annual Thanksgiving Food Drive takes place tomorrow and the need is greater than ever.

Prince George Mayor Lyn Hall proclaimed tomorrow ‘BC Thanksgiving Food for the Food Bank Day’  at a news conference this morning- photo 250News

Organized by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, organizers are hoping to gather 600,000 pounds of food province-wide including 20,000 in Prince George.

All donations will be distributed to the Salvation Army.

“There has never been a time in recent history that there have been so many people in need in this community,” said Captain Neil Wilkinson during a news conference this morning.

“We’ve gone from about 600 families a month that we’re serving at the food bank (five years ago) to 1,500 families per month that are being served at the food bank.”

He said some of the things in highest demand are the “expensive non-perishable food items.”

“So proteins, peanut butter, tuna, canned chicken. They are more expensive for people to purchase but they also pack a lot more nutritional value for families.”

Prince George Mayor Lyn Hall was also on hand to proclaim September 17, 2016 as BC Thanksgiving Food for the Food Bank Day in Prince George.

He said it’s an issue that touches him deeply noting there isn’t a time all throughout the year when he doesn’t see people sleeping under the overhang at the back of city hall.

“We have grates there that produce heat from our central heating system and they sleep on the grates. So we talk about homelessness, but along with homelessness we talk about poverty and these two individuals who I see there have made city hall their home,” said Hall.

“This is not a city hall issue, it’s not just the church’s issue, it’s an entire communities issue. And if we don’t step to the plate as a community we are going to continue to see this evolve and multiply over the years.”

In preparation for tomorrow’s food drive, members of the church left information brochures and collection bags at the foot of as many households as possible on Wednesday.

In return they ask that you set your donation bags out on your porch for pick up tomorrow between 9 a.m. and noon.

Last year over 440,000 pounds of food was collected across BC and just over 18,000 in Prince George.