The Practice of Giving "Winter Food Drive"

December 19, 2021

This year, on December 11, 2021, the 6th Meadowvale Venture Company Food Drive activity began to solicit food donations to help those in need of food during the winter season. The activity took place in front of the Fo Guang Shan Temple of Toronto on December 11th - 12th and 18th - 19th. The public was encouraged to drop off vegetarian and non-perishable foods. The Venture Group helped organize the food items to make sure the foods given were good to use.

Although the actual Food Drive was on two weekends in December, the Venture Group spent months planning to make this FoodDrive a success. Their planning went back as far as September. Each week, they would use a portion of their meeting to plan. All members worked together to come up with the dates, create the posters, promote the event and connect with the Mississauga Food Bank.

At the end of the Food Drive, the five boxes were full of food for a total of 2300 lbs of food collected. The FoodDrive was a success, all thanks to the efforts of the Venture Group, and those who donated. Even in these times of difficulty, the community is still able to come together and make a positive change, shown in the accomplishments of the 2021 Food Drive.

Every year the 6th Meadowvale Scouts led by the Venture section organizes a Food Drive in aid of the local Food Bank, the Mississauga Food Bank. This event helped the Mississauga FoodBank, food pantries, and soup kitchens collect food donations to keep their shelves stocked for those in need, especially during the winter and in a pandemic, where an increase in help is needed.

Throughout the pandemic, there has been a surge in Food Bank usage with the number of people using Food Banks rising 10% in 2020. There have been over 3.6 million Food Bank visits from April 1, 2020, to March 31, 2021, in Ontario. Many people have lost their jobs due to the pandemic, giving them the need to depend on Food Banks, pantries and soup kitchens. Although the cases have been lowering and many feel as though their lives are going back to normal, countless people are still relying on Food Banks each day.