The team at Vesta Energy has banded together to donate a large amount of grocery items to the Sylvan Lake Food Bank through the RCMP.
Vesta Energy was inspired by the Sylvan Lake RCMP’s “Give RCMP the Bird” campaign, which asked locals to donate a turkey for the food banks’s Christmas Hampers.
READ MORE: Give Sylvan Lake RCMP the bird at Charity Check-stop
Tom Witty, an employee at Vesta Energy, said he brought the idea to his team and they immediately jumped at the chance to give back to the community.
“We were inspired by the stunting ticket, so we bought $567 worth, the same price as a stunting ticket,” Witty said.
The majority of the money was donated by the corporation but a few individuals donated as well, Witty said.
After the money was in place a small group went to local grocery stores to buy necessities for the food bank.
“There are a few who really wanted to do the shopping… We have a generic list of things we wanted to get for the food bank, the staple items you know.
“We also made it a point to go to some of the smaller local grocery stores, to spread around the money to our local businesses.”
The original plan was to donate the groceries during the annual Charity Checkstop. However, it was cancelled on Dec. 5, so the staff looked at alternative ways to donate.
READ MORE: Sylvan Lake Food Bank to open for donations in lieu of Stuff-A-Bus
After contacting the RCMP detachment, Witty dropped off the items there, saying he was originally inspired by the RCMP’s campaign so it made the most sense.
“It is disappointing we couldn’t have the checkstop this year, but I am happy we could still help,” he said.
With the cancellation of the checkstop, and the annual Stuff-a-Bus, volunteers at the food bank opened up on Dec. 5 to accept donations directly at their location.
It total, over $1800 and many bags and boxes of food were accepted on Dec. 5.
“While we didn’t see the volume we had hoped for we appreciate each and every donation we do receive,” the food bank said on Facebook.
Donations to the food bank can be dropped off at their location at Unit 4, 4725 43rd St. Wednesday mornings. Alternatively, donations can be dropped off in the bins located at Sobeys, No Frills and Walmart.
“We also want to encourage everyone to make the effort to give this time of year. With the check stop being cancelled, the food bank will struggle to keep up with the demand,” Witty said.
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