Collecting for the food bank

Moose Jaw's Joe Dueck, Better Together Food Drive volunteer, has received some fairly interesting food donations while out collecting for the local food bank.
"I've seen a can of beans from about 1960. That was the strangest thing I've ever seen," Dueck said, adding the can now sits on the Hillcrest Apostolic Church youth minister's office shelf.
As with the previous two years, Dueck, owner of Joe's Place Youth Centre, headed a team during the annual food drive (centred out of the Apostolic Church this year), which provides food for the Moose Jaw and District Food Bank.
Cameron Lewis, food drive co-ordinator, said the local food bank goes through a couple times of low inventory during each year, which typically includes the period just before Christmas holidays.
Therefore, to help see Moose Jaw's low-income food bank users through the late autumn, Lewis said food drive organizers distributed paper bags, via Sunday Times delivery, to as many Moose Jaw homes as possible.
Then on Halloween, volunteers headed out into the community, collecting those paper bags back from residents, which are hopefully filled with food at that point.
On Friday, the local Apostolic chapel was filled with volunteers ready to head out and gather food bank donations. Daycee Richardson, church youth minister, sent the collectors off with some words of encouragement.
"They can give us candy, but that's not really what we're looking for tonight," she said. "We're just ready to have a good night . . . We expect good things."
During last year's drive, Moose Javians donated 38,000 pounds of food. This year's total surpassed that by 1,200 pounds.

Carter Haydu can be reached at 691-1265.

Collections
39,200: The final total amount of food, in pounds, collected by the Better Together Food Drive .
$400:The final total amount of cash collected by the food drive.
- courtesy Better Together Food Drive