What a perfect start to my weekend - today I joined my buddy Ross Woo - a Realtor with Macdonald Realty here in Vancouver, BC down at the Vancouver Food Bank. He set up a group on facebook a few months ago - asking for volunteers - I bit. :)
This morning I woke up - grabbed my coffee and headed down to the local foodbank to meet with the troops and work that warehouse! And work it we did! We sorted through 10 skids of groceries - our job was to sort. 4 Catagories - Cans, Beverages, Baking Goods & Jars, and Starches & Snacks. It was fun.
It was a heart warming experience - 25 strangers who've come together with one thing in common - to help. Also nice to see so many donations from people - but sadly it's not enough - food banks all across the nation are having trouble keeping up... wouldn't it be great if we all pitched in?
It felt good - lots of laughs, some dancing (we had the tunes pumping) - and knowing that we're doing some good in the world. Sort of helps put life in perspective, doesn't it?
Here's a picture of our team leader - Mr. Ross Woo - he's posing with his friend Liz - excuse the blur - it was the only one I took - I was on my second coffee by then..
A little info about our Vancouver Food Bank - this is what their home page reads:
"The Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society (GVFBS) is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing food and related assistance to those in need. The GVFBS collects and distributes food for up to 25‚000 people weekly through 15 food depots and over 100 community agencies located in Vancouver‚ Burnaby‚ New Westminster and the North Shore. THE GVFBS does not receive government funding and relies solely on the generosity of individuals and organizations willing to donate funds‚ food and time."
Some Hunger stats for you:
Hunger Count 2010 Food Banks Canada release their annual "Hunger Count" report. The results of the HungerCount 2010 survey released today show food banks across Canada helped 867,948 separate individuals in March 2010, an increase of 9.2%, or more than 73,000 people, compared to March 2009. This is 28% higher than in 2008, and is the highest level of food bank use since 1997.
To read more about the Vancouver Food Bank - click here https://www.foodbank.bc.ca/main/
Follow them on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/VanFoodBank
Like them on Facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/VanFoodBank?ref=nf
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