Day 3, Rooftop Food Drive at Save On Foods
“It was mighty cold up here last night,” said Jim Tennant, Save on Foods manager, who is camping out on the roof of the store in an effort to raise 12,800 pounds of food. “Hoping for some warmer weather.”
The community is urged to stop by the store in the Village Green Centre and help bring Tennant down with donations for the Salvation Army Food Bank.
“Food raising is going OK with just over 1,500lbs thus far coming in,” reports Tennant. “That keeps me today and tommorow. We have a couple days to raise 1,600 lbs for Friday and then 3,200 for Saturday.”
The rooftop food drive is part of the Village Green’s effort to raise the most food through the Bentall Kennedy Canada Fare Fight for Food challenge. Competing against shopping centres across Canada, if Vernon’s mall raises the most food, Bentall Kennedy (which owns the Village Green Centre) will give $10,000 to the Vernon food bank.
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With his sleeping bag, reclining chair and all the necessities he could drag up, Jim Tennant is prepared to stick to his rooftop post as long as it takes.
Tennant, store manager of Save On Foods, is camping out atop the store until 12,800 pounds of food is raised for the Salvation Army food bank.
“I’ve been hauling stuff up there for days now,” said Tennant Monday, who has now already spent two nights on the roof, but is well equipped with a mini-fridge, table and chairs donated from Beachcomber, and more.
Joined by Village Green Centre manager Scott Adam, marketing manager Kelly Kedrosky and David MacBain with the Salvation Army, the rooftop food drive is part of the Fare Fight for Food challenge.
Bentall Kennedy Canada (which owns the Village Green Centre) has issued the challenge among its Canada-wide malls.
If the Village Green wins, by raising the most amount of food, Bentall Kennedy will give $10,000 to the Vernon food bank.
“That would give us a big boost as far as trying to fulfill the needs,” said MacBain, adding that such a grant might also allow for some additional programs.
So far, the community has pitched in to the drive with more than 1,000 pounds of food and a few generous cash donations.
One donation in particular stands out: even before the managers climbed the Vernon Fire Rescue ladder up to the roof, a man dropped two $50 bills in MacBain’s hand for the cause.
This rooftop food drive is part of an ongoing food drive the Village Green has been part of through Bentall Kennedy. Vernon sits in third place for the amount of food raised. It is hoped this rooftop food drive will push the local shopping centre into first place.
Therefore everyone is encouraged to come by and donate, and look up to give Tennant and his crew a wave.
For more information about Bentall Kennedy’s Fare Fight For Food campaign, visit farefightforfood.ca.
The public can also enter the online contest for a chance to win groceries for a year (a $3,000 value) and support their local food bank.
