A former Kelowna resident wants to keep a family tradition alive by continuing to donate to the Central Okanagan Food Bank (COFB).
Wedding photographer Denick Carullo and his wife recently moved to Abbotsford due to his job after many years of living in Kelowna. He said the family has always participated in the COFB’s Thanksgiving Food Drive.
But this year is a little different.
For one, the drive was held online and lasted 10 days to help slow the spread of COVID-19, which meant that the food bank’s usual doorstep collection of donations had to be cancelled.
And since the Carullos no longer live in Kelowna, they couldn’t have left donations on their doorstep anyway.
But Carullo didn’t want a year to pass by without them giving to the community.
“We’re going to come up to Kelowna for the Thanksgiving weekend to see our children, so we thought, ‘why don’t we hold a by-donation portrait session with some friends and others in the Filipino community and give the proceeds to the food bank?’,” he said.
So Carullo took to social media to spread the word and rally the Okanagan’s Filipino community, garnering positive and supportive messages.
“I was really grateful because when I put the post up, the response was good. Days went by and more people have responded to say it’s a good idea. I’m just hoping that there’ll be a good turnout for the day of the photoshoot,” he said.
“This is just our own little way of remembering friends and our community in Kelowna.”
Carullo added he hopes more residents, as well as local politicians, come out to the photoshoot to help support the food bank.
The photo shoot is set for Oct. 10 at Mission Creek Park from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. and again at 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.
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