The Helping Hands Society of Cochrane and Area will be making their rounds this weekend, collecting food donations in support of the Cochrane Activettes.

If you live in South Cochrane, you can mark your calendars for this Saturday, October 16.

Helping Hands Executive Director Chairra Nicolle says that they're relying on this final food drive of the year, to keep the food bank well-stocked through the winter months.

"We don't collect over the winter [since] it's too cold and icy and dangerous," explains Nicolle. "We'll start up again as soon as it starts to warm up in April. We're hoping we can gather a whole lot of donations to help the food bank make it through until the spring when we start up our food drives again."

This Saturday, the volunteers with Helping Hands will be going door to door in Cochrane's South communities of Fireside, River Heights, Rivercrest, The Willows, Riversong, Precedence and Riviera. Nicolle says that this time around, they'll also be visiting homes just outside of Cochrane in the community of Harmony.

"We're now introducing Harmony as they are part of our catchment and we'll start to collect there as well this year," explains Nicolle. "We're starting to raise awareness, we did that in the North with Water Valley in September and we're doing that with Harmony as well and trying to get our rural groups involved too."

Nicolle says that the food bank is running low on some specific items, including:

  • Canned Pasta
  • Vegetable Soup
  • Canned Meat
  • Meal Sidedishes 
  • Peanut-Free Granola Bars
  • Toilet Paper, Kleenex,  Paper Towel
  • Crackers
  • 1 Litre Juice
  • Tea
  • Laundry Soap

Volunteers will be dropping off collection bags today (Thursday, October 14) but Nicolle says that as always, they will collect donations placed in any type of bag or box.

She says they'll actually be moving away from single-use plastic collection bags in the near future.

"We're starting to get people to understand that it doesn't have to be in the plastic food drive bags, it can be any way of donating," explains Nicolle. "The food bank really enjoys [receiving] the reusable grocery bags for handing out their hampers as well."

Residents are asked to leave food donations on their doorstep before 10 a.m. on Saturday.