Door-to-door drive kicks off
The annual Thanksgiving door-to-door food drive is happening on Saturday Sept. 27 and Saturday Oct. 4. The drive sees north Lindsay and south Lindsay compete to see which side can raise more food for Food Source.
This is the second year that Tina Doyle from RE/MAX and Great North Storage has sponsored the drive. In 2022, before the sponsorship began, Food Source collected 2,000 pounds of food followed by 3,000 in 2023. Last year they collected 10,000 pounds.
Collections south of Colborne Street will happen on Sept. 27, with collection north of Colborne happening the following week. Last year the two sides were within 100 pounds of each other, with the south side winning.
For Lindsay Griffin-Mesure and Zoe Frech, owners of Great North Storage, and Tina Doyle from RE/MAX, this is a cause they care deeply about. “We agree that food is a necessity. It’s something essential that everybody should have,” Griffin-Mesure said.
At Great North Storage for every new customer they receive they donate money to Food Source. “It is a charity that is close to us,” Griffin-Mesure said. Part of the reason they’ve chosen to sponsor this event is all the food and funds raised gets split amongst the food banks in Kawartha Lakes as opposed to picking just one to donate to.
Great North Storage has been donating to Food Source since they first opened. “We did our grand opening, and I think we did 500 pounds of food that first time,” Frech said.
This year they’re hoping to get 15,000 pounds of food. “10,000 pounds was crazy, so we’re really hoping to exceed that this year,” Griffin-Mesure added.
Anyone wanting to donate is asked to ensure their food items are left outside in a visible area no later than 10 a.m. on their collection date. To prevent non-donation items from being taken by mistake, donators are encouraged to label any bags containing food with ‘Food Source.’
All food donated should be non-perishable, unopened, undamaged, in date and in its original packaging. “Every non-perishable food item and every donation counts. The big thing we look at too is every dollar donated is equivalent to two dollars in buying power,” Griffin-Mesure said.
“Sometimes it’s so hard for people to absorb how a little can actually make such a huge impact. Five dollars can feed a family of two to four,” Doyle added.
Right now, Food Source needs canned vegetables, fruit, meat, fish, soup and baked beans. As well they’re look for peanut butter, jam, condiments, pancake mix, syrup, rice, dry pasta and pasta sauce. For a full list of needed items, or to make a monetary donation, go to kawarthalakesfoodsource.com or visit their Facebook or Instagram @kawarthalakesfoodsource.
