Curbside food drive aims to ease squeeze on food banks this holiday

The City of St. John's is pushing hard to help families put food on the table this holiday season.

The mayor and members of city council were at the Community Food Sharing Association on Monday to announce the launch of the annual city-wide curbside food drive.

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For the campaign, residents are asked to put food out for donations next weekin clearly marked packages, on the same day of their garbage collection.

"They did a tremendous job last year, collecting over 150,000 pounds of food," said Eg Walters, general manager of the CFSA."It certainly goes a long way in helping the food banks, not only in St. John's but throughout the whole of Newfoundland and Labrador."

The CFSA collects and distributes food to any food bank in need across the province. Last week, the association sent three pallets of goods to Happy Valley-Goose Bay. Last month, it sent nine pallets to Nain.

CFSA distributed $18 million offood last year

The councillors hope the city will beat its totals from last year, meeting the increasing needs.

"Each year we've gotten a great response from the residents of the city and from community groups within the city as well," said councillorDanny Breen."We expect we're going to have a great response again this year."

Demand has been on the rise for food banks, with Walters estimating a six per cent increase over last year's numbers. According to CFSA, food banks in the province service 26,000 people, 38 per cent of them being under 18.

The CFSAdistributed $18 million of food last year, with $300,000 worth coming from the curbside food drive.

Donations can also be dropped off at city hall, the H.G.R. MewsCommunity Centre, KilbrideCommunity Centre and the Southlands Community Centre.