The Edgar Burton Christmas Food Drive kicked-off Friday in Greater Sudbury at Vale Base Metals’ Sudbury Operations with an open invitation to the community to participate and contribute the campaign in support of the Sudbury Food Bank.
“We are very excited to, once again, support the Sudbury Food Bank through the annual Edgar Burton Christmas Food Drive,” said Vale Campaign co-chair Rachel Meehan, in a news release.
“As a first time co-chair of this campaign, I’m looking forward to seeing the community come together to help those in need, now more than ever, during the holiday season.”
Local businesses and organizations are encouraged to participate, either by collecting food or monetary donations for the drive.
Owen Marcotte has served as USW co-chair for eight years now, he said it seems the Sudbury Food Bank has become a necessity for more and more families.
“I always look forward to this time of year when the Sudbury community comes together to honour Edgar by supporting the Food Drive and helping feed families in need,” said Marcotte.
Dan Xilon, the Sudbury Food Bank’s executive director said the organization continues to see an increase in those who rely on the food bank to feed their families and the Edgar Burton Christmas Food Drive is vital to meet that demand.
“Through the continued generosity of local businesses and residents, we can feed about 17,000 clients every month,” said Xilon.
“This would not be possible without key campaigns such as this one, and long-time partners like Vale and the USW.”
Edgar Burton, a Vale employee and member of the United Steelworkers Local 6500, started the annual food drive 36 years ago when his daughters asked him if they could start collecting food for people who were going hungry in their community in his workplace. Since then, the campaign has grown to include hundreds of businesses, organizations and schools which have collected over 1,500 tons of food for the Sudbury Food Bank since it first began.
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The Edgar Burton Christmas Food Drive runs from Nov. 17 to Dec. 15.
Reserve troops from the Canadian Armed Forces 2nd Battalion Irish Regiment will be picking up donations from participating businesses and organizations from Dec. 18 to Dec. 20.
For more information about the Edgar Burton Christmas Food Drive and how to participate, visit the Sudbury Food Bank’s website.
