CBC Sudbury's Sounds Of the Season highlights importance of local food bank

CBC Sudbury's 2016 Sounds Of the Season is live from the Sudbury Food Bank Friday, to collect donations for, and raise awareness of, the need for food to help the less fortunate.

Markus Schwabe and the Morning North crew, includingnewsreader Martha Dillman, associate producer-technician Roger Corriveau, reporter Erik White and producer Jan Lakes, broadcast the first live two and a half hour special from the food bank warehouse floor in the morning.

Dozens of rows of empty crates tower up to the ceiling of the warehouse, where demand is high, but donations aren't coming in at as quick of a pace as officials would like at this time of year.

• Sudbury food bank 'far down the line' from having enough donations

In addition, the food bank usually gets enough donations in the summer to feed people throughout the holiday season, according to Dan Xilon, the facility's executive director, but that did not happen this year.

Listeners also got to experience a vast array of musical entertainment, choirs and bands.

By the conclusion of the morning show just after 8:30 a.m., the food bank had about 400 pounds of new donations of food and almost $4,000 in cash, brought in by generous listeners.

Sounds Of the Season doesn't end with the conclusion of Morning North, as CBC's Radio One afternoon show for northern Ontario, Up North, will broadcast from the food bank warehouse Friday between 4:00 and 6:00 p.m.

Host Jason Turnbull, AP-tech Marina von Stackelberg and newsreader Angela Gemmill will be live, with cut-ins from our colleagues in Thunder Bay.