Food bank fall harvest begins in Central Okanagan

CENTRAL OKANAGAN – Local farmers and orchardists are in the middle of harvest and so is the Central Okanagan Community Food Bank.

“From now until Christmas is our harvest time, the time when we have to stock up until spring,” spokeswoman Ami Catriona says. "We go through 1.4 million pounds of donations a year and that doesn’t include the Westside, so it’s probably close to two million.”

The drive to replenish shelves began in earnest this weekend with an event sponsored by the Church of the Latter Day Saints that brought in 52,000 lbs. of much-needed supplies.

“It went great. We have 52 of those big apple bins full of stuff and each one of them holds about 1,000 lbs. That would last us about four to six weeks.”

This year’s fall campaign is the first after the merger this summer of the Kelowna and Westside community food banks to form the Central Okanagan Community Food Bank.

Catriona says the merger has gone smoother than hoped, but was not without its problems.

“It’s like trying to turn a cruise ship. Lots of things need to be redone but I think it has left us with more direction and focus,” she says. "We were working together all the time anyway so it made sense.”

Catriona says there will be sponsored food drives throughout the fall campaign and urged local residents to find a way to donate during one of them.

“Global is sponsoring an event during Thanksgiving and Canada Post has one in November,” she notes.

To contact the reporter for this story, email John McDonald at jmcdonald@infonews.ca or call 250-808-0143. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.