It has turned out to be another record breaking year for the Business Cares Food Drive.
Just days after issuing an urgent appeal for donations, organizers of the food drive announced Tuesday 307,800 lbs of food were collected for the London Food Bank.
"This is the 16th year of the campaign and every year we manage to exceed our previous year," says Wayne Dunn, co-chair of the Business Cares Food Drive. "Our goal is always just one pound more than the previous year's total. We thought getting anywhere near last year's goal of 290,870pounds would be an awesome feat and sure enough it has happened. It really is a true testament to the generosity of Londoners."
As of Friday, the food drive had reached just 55% of its goal and had 40 fewer businesses participating compared to last year. The turning point came quickly after Dunn reached out to media expressing an urgent need for more donations.
"Donations were down significantly but we had a really good weekend and got lots of nice surprises from various companies that obviously heard the message and dug deep," says Dunn. "We had a record amount of cheques that came in over the last 24 hours."
Nearly 400 businesses took part in the drive, which is roughly the same number that participated in past years.
"Londoners never cease to amaze me. You put out the ask and nobody says no to the Food Bank. It's a basic need of life," says Dunn. "We are here to help and are fortunate that we are able to do it with a great committee and a great community."
All of the donations collected through the Business Cares Food Drive were delivered to the London Food Bank Tuesday morning.
