The Chestermere branch of Scotiabank donated $2,762 to the food bank Sept. 15.
“We can buy fresh fruit and produce,” said Food Bank Executive Director Mardi Oel.
The donation will help to restock the empty shelves and refrigerator at the food bank.
“Right now our shelves are really, really bare,” said Oel.
Scotiabank Small Business Advisor Greg Moffatt said they are excited to see how the food bank uses the money.
“It’s always fun to see what they end up putting it towards,” he said.
The donation was made by Scotiabank matching money raised by staff who volunteered with the food bank.
Seeing what the donation is used for motivates staff to volunteer for other events.
“They can see they made a difference,” said Moffatt.
Traditionally the summer months tend to have less donations and can be a challenge for the food bank to keep the shelves stocked.
“We haven’t had a school [food] drive since May,” she said, “we won’t get any food in from the schools until the end of October.”
“It’s always this five-month period that’s a little tricky,” she said.
Donations like this one are really important during the summer and early fall.
“It keeps us going through the summer,” said Oel.
“Every little bit helps, every big bit helps, everything helps” she said.
Scotiabank’s donation will cover about one-month of food for 35 families.
Moffatt is always happy to be able to support the food bank.
“We see directly, daily, the impact of the economic crisis,” he said.
Clients are constantly coming in looking for help to restructure credit with the bank because of job losses and other pressures caused by the economy.
When people come to the bank need to restructure, Moffatt said that putting food on the table can be a struggle for them as well, which is where donations like this can help.
“This is a very real, very practical way we can engage in helping people through a great organization,” he said.
