The Helping Hands Society will once again be out in force this weekend in an effort to collect food for those in need in Cochrane and Rocky View County. The second of two annual food drives, this weekends event comes after a record-breaking spring drive back in April where more than 1,300 cases of food were donated and an army of 800 volunteers turned out to help. Sandra Scott, Programs Manager for the Helping Hands Society said it be great to match the spring’s haul, but added the fall drive is usually smaller. “It would be great to do 1,100 boxes,” she said, adding that is enough to get them through until the April drive. This year, to help encourage more donations the society is also putting out a corporate challenge to encourage businesses to step up and help. A few have accepted the call and Scott is hopeful more will follow the lead for subsequent food drives. She is also encouraged that as Cochrane grows so does the society’s volunteer base. There are a number of new team leads taking the reins this weekend and that helps in areas that have grown too large for one lead to handle. “It’s great to see new people come forward,” she said. Donations are to be left on the door step in the bags arriving with the Cochrane Eagle today, and will be transported to the collection site at Spray Lake Sawmills Family Sports Centre. The semi-annual food drives provide 60 per cent of all donations to the Activettes Food Bank. There was a 30 per cent increase of individuals accessing the food hamper program from 2015 to 2016. In 2017, 2,650 people utilized 997 food hampers. This past season usage has been down slightly for the first time in years, according to FCSS but hampers still helped 191 adults and 173 children.
