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By Jared Williams
Taber Times
The holiday season is a great time of the year to be thinking about the less fortunate and a good place to start is Stuff-a-Bus coming up this Tuesday (Dec. 5).
It is a program by the Taber Food Bank to stuff a school bus as full as it can get with food and hygiene supplies, taking place at the Taber IGA and Co-op from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
It makes it easy to buy some extra food or supplies if you don’t have any laying around to donate right at the store.
If you don’t have any idea of what to donate, you can give a cash donation, or in the stores you can buy a $10 pre-packaged bag of essential goods made ready to donate.
Last year, the program raised almost 4,000 pounds in food and supplies. But this year, with help from junior and senior high school students from W. R. Myers, D.A. Ferguson, St. Mary’s, ACE Place, Taber Mennonite School and Taber Christian School, they set the goal a bit higher. They are hoping to reach 5,000 pounds of foods, gifts, and hygiene supplies by the end of the day.
This is the fifth year in a row for Stuff-a-Bus and the food bank is aiming for a nice turnout, with Foto Source decorating the buses and playing music to put some holiday spirit in the air.
Things with high protein are in high demand, but some items the food bank is in most need of are canned meats/meals, dry pasta, pasta sauce, oatmeal, and hygiene items like shampoo and toilet paper.
The winter months are especially hard on the wallet as the high cost of heating a home through cold Canadian winters can rack up to a pretty penny.
“The demand for the hungry is there. We have an increase in hamper use, a number of those families have children and we know children learn best when they are not hungry,” said Tamara Miyanaga, board member of the Taber Food Bank. “In the winter, their utility bills are higher, so it’s very important that we help supplement their basic food needs so they can function. If you can give a can of soup or a box of macaroni, it does make a difference. You don’t have to give a hundred dollars of groceries, even one thing makes a difference. We’re grateful for everything we receive.”
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