Things are coming together for this Friday’s Stocking the Shelves radiothon at Moose 99.9 in Sturgeon Falls.
This year’s fundraiser is to help the West Nipissing Food Bank buy a walk-in fridge which will cost $8,000 to $10,000.
Ken Perrin, the chair of the local food bank, says the outlet has become a very important part of the community over the years.
“We now feed 600 people monthly and that’s over 7,000 people annually,” Perrin said.
“Many are repeat clients but we also have new clients. There’s no reason for people to go hungry in West Nipissing. We turn no one away. People can come (to us) and not wonder where their next meal is coming from.”
Perrin says the walk-in fridge will be an important addition to the food bank has it undertakes a relatively new program where it rescues food.
This is acquiring food which is near its best before date.
Instead of seeing food in this category thrown away, it can be donated to the food bank which can then store it in the walk-in fridge.
Perrin says this allows the food bank to store fruits and vegetables meaning people can get very healthy food during the winter when prices for these types of food tend to rise.
Perrin adds the services the food bank offers have also expanded in that it now offers winter clothing and gets involved in toy drives.
“So it’s a one-stop-shop for anyone in need,” he said.
Perrin says this year’s radiothon is two-fold.
He says people can drop off food but monetary donations are also accepted and the money goes toward the walk-in fridge.
He says local contractors are donating their labour toward the project but the agency needs to raise money for the materials.
Perrin says the size of the donation doesn’t matter.
It can be as little as a few dollars or $20 whatever people want to contribute.
Perrin says he can honestly say the West Nipissing Food Bank has made the community a better one by being there as a safety net when people need a little help.
Moose 99.3 morning man Drew Ferris will kick off the radiothon at 6:00am this Friday.
Throughout the day many West Nipissing performers will join Ferris on the air.
Among them are Gisele S. Small, Stephan Subero, Chelsea Solomon and Bruce Hopkins.
The radiothon will run until 6:00pm and the goal is $8,000 to $10,000 to match the cost of the walk-in fridge.