On September 23, Wheatland County Food Bank is going to be having a food drive in Strathmore, which is the same date as the city-wide food drive that is happening in Calgary. 

A couple of days prior to the food drive (September 19 - 21), volunteers will be going around and dropping off bags with donation instructions to every home in Strathmore. Then for the morning of the 23 everyone who wants to partake in the food drive is to fill up their bags with non-perishable items and leave the food donations in a place that's visible from the street, on a doorstep preferably. 

Residents are more than welcome to leave more than one bag or box of items and Johnathan Taylor, a volunteer for the Calgary Food Bank, says they want to get as many donations as they can but they don't have a specific goal. 

"This is the first time that I am aware that we are going to be doing a full food drive within the town of Strathmore. We're hoping that as many people as possible can participate. When we reached out to the Wheatland County Food Bank they did express a need for donations." 

Cash donations are also something that Taylor expressed would be a huge help for the food bank because then they can purchase what they need at any given time.

"When we drop off donation instructions, there will also be a QR code on those instructions where interested people can donate online to the food bank. They can also fill up a bag as well and take it themselves to the food bank on the 23 as well." 

If any residents missed the time frame for whatever reason and have items that they would like to donate after the food drive, they can drop them off at the Strathmore Co-op which will also be accepting food bank donations. 

On the donation instruction card that is in the bag, there will be a list of items that the food bank needs more than others at the moment. A few items that are needed the most are things like canned soup, chunky soup, canned tomatoes, tomato sauce, cereal flour, sugar, jam, granola, granola bars, pancake mix syrup, canned meat craft dinner, canned corn, shampoo, bar soap, deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrushes, toilet paper, diapers and pull-ups 

It is possible that more volunteers will be needed for the food drive. Taylor says there are going to be about 40 routes with about 112 houses on each route and that they are still in the process of getting those volunteers together.

If you would like to volunteer or would like more information about the event you can email Jonathan Taylor at jross.taylor@gmail.com.

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