Meet the Londoners working to make a meaningful difference in our community
Wayne Dunn
Passion: Business Cares Food Drive, www.businesscares.ca
“Almost 20 years ago, after talking to [London Food Bank co-director] Glen Pearson, Ed Holder and I started the Business Cares Food Drive. It’s now in its 19th year, and Ed and I are still co-chairing it, but we now have a committee of about 20 volunteers from different sectors, including accounting and legal firms, financial and educational institutions, golf courses and other businesses. Collectively, we come together as a whole community, and it’s amazing!
We run the campaign for three weeks every year—this year it kicked off on November 30—but planning and preparation starts in September. The first weekend we have volunteers out in grocery stores in every area of the city, who give empty bags to people as they arrive and ask them to fill one and drop it off as they leave, or to donate money. We also have drop-off locations across the city.
We usually start off slow, but as we get closer to Christmas people get into the spirit of the season and they really open their hearts and their wallets. Last year, we collected $750,000 worth of donations in food and in cash.
Our goal is to collect enough food to supply the food bank for three months. All of the food we collect will go out to families in January, February and March. Those are months when it is challenging for families to afford fresh and nutritious foods.
There is a monthly demand for food for more than 9,000 people. They are not the same people every month, but on average, a third are children under the age of 17. There are also more seniors who need the food bank now, which is alarming.”
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