Ten local food banks saw "generous" donations following the Chatham-Kent (CK) ATV Club’s "Feed the Hunger" fundraiser.
The event took place on Saturday at the Real Canadian Superstore, which had partnered with the club, offering pre-packaged bags of food for sale at the checkout.
“The store made up 505 bags people could purchase that had four or five different non-perishable items in it for $5 each, and by just after 2 p.m., we had all those completely sold,” said CK ATV Club President Vince Masse.
The club was also accepting monetary donations, and Masse reports that they received roughly $5,500. He says donations are still coming in through the GoFundMe page.
“We had people that were texting us and telling us to check our email that there were e-transfers coming, so we’d go back inside and buy the bags and show them the pictures of what their donation went to,” said Masse.
He added that the club is looking to use some of the money to support local school breakfast programs.
This year, the event included a ‘Car-B-Q’, sponsored by the Lally Auto Group. Masse notes that these corporate sponsors helped make the fundraiser a success.
“The trick is to always make sure that you've got those sauteed onions going to get their nose up in the air and that always brings them in,” he said.
Although the club raised a generous amount, it didn’t surpass last year's donations, which Masse notes “will be a hard year to beat.”
