Thanks to our wonderful volunteers and neighbours, we raised 2,932 lbs of food and $87 in funds, for a total of 2,552 meals that will help feed our hungry neighbours.
On a night with foreboding weather conditions, our awesome volunteers still came out in droves and demonstrated love to our community by braving the torrential rain in order to collect food bank donations from 800 of our neighbours. If you contributed snacks for our deserving volunteers, if you loaned a much-needed wagon, if you trudged through the rain and joyfully collected food from the neighbours, if you were a wagon-spotter donation picker-upper in your blinking car, if you were a generous food donor, or if you were a speedy box packer – every single individual was needed in order to make this year’s event such a huge success.
If there was any doubt that your efforts were appreciated by our Forest Heights neighbours or made an impact on our own church community …
- While most of our neighbours thanked our soggy collection teams for their efforts, one memorable story came from a woman who is housebound and was grateful that we were able to pick up her food donations so that she could still contribute to the Food Bank of Waterloo Region.
- A couple of neighbours delivered their donations directly to the church over the next couple of days (oops, we missed a house or two!)
- A couple of other neighbours delivered their donations directly to the church the next day, having forgotten to have their bags of food ready for Halloween collection. Think about it! They went out to the store, purchased a bag of groceries, bypassed the convenient food bank bin at the store, and dropped off their bag at Westheights!
- One of the Food Bank truck drivers who came to load up our donations lives in our neighbourhood. While he loaded up our 125+ boxes, he commented that he is impressed by our church’s kindness to our neighbours, evidenced by the carnivals we ran (for seven years) and Halloween for Hunger.
- A couple of first-time Halloween for Hunger volunteers commented on the massive amount of donations generously donated by our neighbours, and the enthusiasm and joy exhibited by a group of hard-working volunteers of all ages.
Your efforts helped feed the hungry in our city. You are living out Matthew 25:35,40 where Jesus teaches:
“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat …Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”
