CKNX Relief Truck Christmas Campaign benefits from local Lions Clubs

BY DENNY SCOTT

The CKNX Relief Truck Christmas Campaign benefitting the North Huron Community Food Share and the Huron County Distribution Centre received got a big boost on Monday from local service clubs.

Monday, which was the service club day for the annual campaign, saw significant donations made to the project by Lions Clubs across Huron County.  Monday was also the first day of the campaign, which runs until next Monday.

Travis Teed, an Auburn Lion, representing most of the clubs across Huron County, presented a $5,000 donation to help the program on Monday morning in Wingham while Zoellyn Onn from the Brussels Lions Club donated $1,000 in Brussels.

“Travis went around to the Huron County Lions Clubs to pool their money,” said Roxane Nicholson, Chair of the Board for the North Huron Community Food Share.

She explained that, as the funds from the Lions Clubs was going to the Huron County Distribution Centre, it would benefit the entire county.

This year has been challenging for food banks not only because of limitations on volunteers, but also because of limitations on the businesses that help the organizations, like grocery stores. Because of that, the campaign that usually focuses on filling up a transport truck is instead looking for other options.

“We are encouraging gift cards this year... because I don’t have the manpower,” she said. “We don’t have 20 people doing the job, going through the food.”

She said gift cards are a great way to lend support because there are also limitations on who can work at the Food Share, so being able to hand a gift card to a family in need can mitigate the fact that sorting and running the food bank may be difficult this year.

Nicholson said the event went well last year, which was a boon because, come March, more people than ever before were seeking help due to the pandemic. She said the food collected through last year’s campaign helped significantly with that. What has followed, she said, was the busiest year ever for the Food Share due to the uncertainty of the pandemic.

Teed, in an interview with The Citizen, said he wanted to help out because the program is very important to the community and because, as a Lions member, he knows that all sorts of donations are made throughout the year to the organizations. By gathering them together, he said it helps to highlight the campaign and remind people to give.

Teed went on to say the campaign consists of a lot of moving pieces, like CKNX’s Buzz Reynolds, who is the voice and face of it every year, Premium Transportation, which provides storage and transport for the distribution centre and the donations, big and small, that come in every year.

The Brussels donation was one of six made over the year by that club, Onn said.

“The Brussels Lions have donated $3,000 each to the North Huron Food Share and the Seaforth Community Food Bank this year,” she said.

The donations consisted of a $1,000 contribution in January thanks to the proceeds from the 2019 Christmas Draw, a $1,000 contribution in June to help with COVID-19 relief and a $1,000 contribution now in place of the Christmas Draw, which can’t go forward this year, Onn said.

The Blyth Lions Club, aside from participating in Teed’s effort, also contributed $250 to the North Huron Food Share and collected food for the local foodbank which was delivered on Monday.

Donations are accepted at grocery stores across the county, as well as at the North Huron Community Food Share between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. Donations can also be made by cheque and sent to PO Box 354, Wingham, Ontario N0G 2W0 or through e-transfers at help@nhfoodshare.ca.

For more information, visit cnkx.ca.