Salvation Army receives over 1,000 pounds of food from ‘1 Person, 1 Bag’ food drive

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — The Fort St. John Salvation Army received over 1,000 pounds of food donations from SJA Promo’s ‘1 Person, 1 Bag’ food drive.

The food drive was launched on October 6th during the Salvation Army’s Humour for Hope comedy event at the Lido.

Through the food drive, residents were encouraged to fill one bag with non-perishable food or personal hygiene products for donation to the Salvation Army Food Bank.

Each bag donated counted as an entry for a $500 prize pack, which was drawn for and awarded to Gigi last week.

Jared Braun, Executive Director of the Fort St. John Salvation Army, says they are grateful for the support.

“There were a lot of people that participated in the initiative,” Braun said.

“They had individuals coming by, families with kids. They had businesses that collectively, among employees, took up the challenge to fill bags.”

The executive director says the local Salvation Army picked up multiple times throughout the campaign.

“It’s always encouraging to connect with our food bank workers when they see these donations come in because their eyes light up, ‘Oh, we needed some more of that,’” Braun said.

Despite the amount of food brought in by the 1 Person, 1 Bag’ food drive, he says the usage of the food bank isn’t changing.

“We could probably do for having initiatives like this almost on a monthly basis, but it really made a big, big difference to carry us on, especially as we come into the Christmas season,” Braun said.

The executive director says they are looking forward to the Huskies ‘Fill the Bus’ food drive coming soon, which hit 25 years in 2022.

The Salvation Army is also looking for kettlebell volunteers this holiday season, with the annual campaign starting on November 14th.