1,250 hampers - $300k of food

Hundreds of local families lined up outside the Kelowna Food Bank Tuesday to receive their Christmas Hampers.

“The building has been wrapped with clients this morning and will continue for the next three days,” explains Lenetta Parry, Kelowna Food Bank Executive Director. “So, it is always sort of mixed emotions because it is unfortunate that the need is so high in our community, yet I am so grateful and thankful for this community for making sure that we can care for them and make sure the holidays are special for them.

Every child deserves a Christmas and every family deserves to be able to eat and have a nice Christmas meal at the table, so with the support of the community and the volunteers we are able to do that.”

Around 1,250 hampers will be given out, totalling over $300,000 worth a food.

The hampers constitute about a weeks worth of food for the families, including special treats this year and a full Christmas dinner.

The Food Bank’s toy room is also brimming with gifts for young ones making sure nearly 1,000 local kids have a happy Christmas morning.

“It means a lot more than people can even put words to,” says an appreciative hamper recipient Christina Turzanski. “Most of us don’t even want to be here in the first place and then we find out we have to be here because we cannot afford to do anything else, so it definitely means a lot, a lot, a lot.”

Local politicians, dozens of volunteers, and Santa were all on hand to make the morning extra special as families poured through the door.

“It is nice to be able to help out when you can, wish people a Merry Christmas…you know we have an opportunity to be a little bit of joy in someone’s life and that is important to me,” says Gail Given, Kelowna City Councillor.

“You know our clients are so grateful, they are giving us hugs and we see the tears of joy,” shares Parry. “We invite the public to come down over the next couple days so that people can really see their donations at work.”

She says that over the last three years demand has remained fairly steady with the food bank handing out 1,200 to 1,300 hampers annually.

“We can’t help one single family without the support of this community, so the thanks we hear today really belongs back to the businesses and the social service clubs and the individuals and the families who support us year round and value what we do, and we thank them,” adds Parry.

There is still time to help out this Christmas season and keep the food bank shelves full. For all the details check out their website at www.kelownafoodbank.com.