HDCH Non Food Food Drive

10 Days + 2790 Lbs. + $1800 = Months of Groceries for Hamilton Neighbours!

Hamilton District Christian High WATCH group (Working at Teaching Children Hope) organized a Non Food Food Drive (NFFD) for the school community. With the support from Student Council, the WATCH group ran a ten-day campaign and raised funds to buy groceries in support of the Neighbour 2 Neighbour Centre (N2N) in Hamilton.

Students met with managers Paul and Adele Henderson from the Upper Paradise No Frills to discuss how to maximize the food purchase. The managers took the time to order in specific items that Mark Raymond, Director of the Foodbank at N2N, had suggested for their centre.

On shopping day, students started with a chain of empty grocery carts and worked through their N2N shopping list at No Frills. The filled the carts with large quantities of supplies including cases of spaghetti sauce, peanut butter, boxes of cereal, jars of jam, cans of tuna and salmon, pasta, stewed tomatoes, toothbrushes, toothpaste, plastic wrap, and diapers.

Customers in the store were amazed at the quantity of food being purchased, especially when the students lined up with multiple full grocery carts near at the cashier! No Frills staff set aside one of the cash registers so HDCH students could ring through the thousands of dollars of groceries.

After loading their school bus, students delivered and unloaded 2,790 lbs. of groceries and supplies to Neighbour 2 Neighbour. Because perishable food is difficult to store but is often in high demand for our local families, students also presented N2N with a cheque for $1,800 which will be used to purchase milk over the next four months.