Every year, the District of Tumbler Ridge sponsors a food drive to collect food and donations for the local Family Assistance Program, which runs the Tumbler Ridge Food Bank.
This year, the drive will happen Wednesday, December 13.
This is a little later than it normally is, due to miscommunication between the District and the food bank.
“There’s new people running the food bank this year,” says Mayor Krakowka. “I’ll take some blame for not getting back to them.”
He says it’s his understanding that if the date is pushed too late, it becomes difficult for the food bank. “If we push it past the ninth, it becomes difficult,” he says. “They need to figure out what food they have collected so they can plan.”
The suggested day by the food bank is December 9, but Chief Curry says not a lot of firefighters are available on Saturday. He says Wednesdays are preferable. “I can’t guarantee on the weekend I’ll have enough operators as I’d want,” he says. “In my discussions with the food bank, they were open to December 13. That would allow us more time to get the word out to the community that we’re having a food drive.”
He says this weekend would be very short notice. “On Saturday, a lot of people would be out of town doing Christmas shopping. I don’t think we’d have the amount of people we’re looking for by rushing them.”
Councillor Norbury points out that there is a meeting scheduled between council and the Tumbler Ridge Community Forest. “I hate putting one against the other, but I vote we reschedule the community forest meeting.”
The mayor also makes a motion to schedule the annual food drive on the fourth Wednesday of every November.
Councillor Hoffman proposes that it be moved to the last Wednesday of the month for those times there’s that rare fifth Wednesday in November.
Mayor Krakowka says if the motion passes and it works for the food bank, it allows everyone to plan for it: the food bank, the District and the Fire Department.
The food drive—traditionally called the Mayor’s Food Drive, though Mayor Krakowka is working to have the name changed to the Mayor, Council and TR Fire Department Food Drive—is the largest fundraiser annually for the Tumbler Ridge Food Bank.
The food drive—traditionally called the Mayor’s Food Drive, though Mayor Krakowka is working to have the name changed to the Mayor, Council and TR Fire Department Food Drive—is the largest fundraiser annually for the Tumbler Ridge Food Bank.
Trent is the publisher of Tumbler RidgeLines.
