After almost a truck full of food has been collected for the Airdrie Food Bank from the Festival of Lights, both organizations have issued a reminder that the Festival is not the best option to drop off food donations, and in fact has not been collecting food bank donations for some time.

A tweet posted by the Airdrie Food Bank on Monday (December 11), and retweeted by the Festival of Lights read, "Please know that the @AirdrieLights is no longer collecting food donations for us. This is due to food safety and logistic reasons. Please continue to support the festival and keep our community shining bright in December!"

Lori McRitchie, Executive Director for the Food Bank, said this is actually the third year that the Festival of Lights has not been collecting food donations on their behalf. That decision was made mutually for two reasons.

McRitchie explained the primary reason is food safety.

"The food would be dropped off outside and, especially in cold weather, cans would freeze, food would go to waste and that's not what either one of us wanted."

McRitchie said the Food Bank is committed to distributing only quality food to their clients. Once food has frozen, it is no longer good to give out and is therefore wasted.

A second reason has to do with the sustainability of the Festival of Lights. Both McRitchie and Michelle Pirzek, Coordinator for the Festival of Lights, explained that the Festival needs cash donations in order to continue running. Accepting food donations meant those cash donations weren't coming through when people visited.

"Even though they may have been able to afford a ten dollar donation, they've brought food instead and it's hard to get the message out," said Pirzek. "Over the weekend, we had some volunteers that were verbally abused when we tried to explain we simply can't pay our bills with food. It's not that we don't appreciate the importance of the food bank."

Prizek further explained that while it may have been appropriate to accept food donations when the Festival began in 1996, when both organizations were much smaller, the Food Bank and the Festival of Lights agree it is no longer the best option for donations.

"We want to support the Festival of Lights and not take anything away from them," said McRitchie. "We want to make sure that donations that are taken at the door go towards keeping the lights on. It was a mutual understanding that we came to, and we are on very good terms."

McRitchie said if you do want to donate to the Food Bank, the best option is to drop off donations at Airdrie grocery stores, where the temperature is more consistent, or to drop it off at the Food Bank itself.

 

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