Tim Haskell and Brenda LeClair of CK Helping Hands and Outreach for Hunger were two of the many volunteers who took part in last summer's “Fill the Bus” campaign, which took place on Aug. 19. The campaign will resume on Saturday.
CK Helping Hands is asking the community for a little help on June 1st by loading food onto a school bus.
On that day, the group will be setting up buses outside various grocery stores across Chatham-Kent from 8am to 2pm to collect non-perishable food items to donate to local food banks.
Tim Haskell of CK Helping Hands said the organization has been doing this work since the pandemic hit in 2020 and feels its efforts have two effects.
“It also brings attention to food banks and helps with efforts to replenish their stock,” he said.
“Fill the Bus” first started in Chatham but has now expanded to most areas of the city that have grocery stores.
“Since that first year, we've expanded into different communities,” Haskell said. “We're trying to get into some of the smaller communities, and without a grocery store, we can't do that.”
Additionally, some Dollar Tree stores will collect food items in advance.
“That'll be a nice addition to the collection, too,” he said.
In Chatham, Fill the Bus will be set up outside Sobeys, Real Canadian Super Store, Giant Tiger, Food Basics, Dollar Tree and No Frills.
In Wallaceburg, buses will stop in front of No Frills and Dollar Tree.
In Tilbury, the buses will stop at No Frills, in Blenheim they will pick up passengers at Sobeys and in Ridgetown they will pick up passengers at Foodland, while in Dresden they will drop off passengers at North Dresden Baptist Church.
Donations stay within the community in which they were collected.
Support groups include Giving Hearts, Chatham Goodfellows, The Salvation Army, FreeHelpCk Ridgetown, LaSertoma, ROCK Missions, Chatham-Kent Caring Citizens, Chatham Outreach for Hunger, Tilbury Help, The Salvation Army Blenheim and North Dresden Church.
