By Jessica Jones
For the Independent
The Stettler Fire Department, local high school footballs teams, as well as Stettler Minor Hockey will be teaming up Oct. 7th for a door-to-door food drive to benefit the Stettler Food Bank.
Headed up primarily by the firefighters, the volunteers will go door-to-door throughout the town between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m., says Betty Birch, president of the Stettler Food Bank.
“They try to visit every single family dwelling … but if some are missed we welcome people to bring the food to the church the next day,” she said, noting that the volunteers will not be attending apartment buildings.
Birch says the firefighters get people’s attention with sirens blaring, but advises them not to be concerned — it’s all in the name of a good cause.
“Because the sirens are running it can take some people aback and they hear a lot commotion but it’s for a good thing,” she said. “Especially people new to town, they see the fire trucks on the streets and think it’s for something else but it gets people to acknowledge the firefighters.”
For those people who are not home or wish to donate without having their door knocked on, Birch says a great option is to leave their non-perishable food donation in a plastic bag on their doorsteps.
“It’s pretty easy, just leave a bag of good food and we will pick it up and make sure the right people get it,” she said.
They are happy for any non-perishable food donations — those that are not expired or outdated — but Birch also mentioned that canned fruit, boxes of cereal, cheese spreads like Cheese Whiz, and canned vegetables are amongst the most needed.
Approximately 30 to 40 families on any given week will get some support from the Stettler Food Bank, which is located in the basement of the Stettler United Church, 4820 51st St.
It is open Tuesday and Thursday afternoons and Wednesday during the evening.
In August, Birch says, 221 adults and 128 children received food from the Stettler Food Bank.
“It is a lot,” she said, mentioning that the food bank also accepts cash donations in order to buy eggs, milk and meat every week.
Birch says adult volunteers are also welcome to assist in sorting the food donations from the food drive on the evening of Oct. 7th.
“It does take quite the crew to sort through the food that evening,” she said. “It all has to be sorted and divided up, dates checked, so it’s a big job.”
The Stettler Food Bank is a registered charity made up of volunteers. For more information, to get involved, or to make a donation, contact Birch at 403-742-0732.
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