Farmers fill local food banks

Volunteers at the Alliston Good Shepherd Food Bank stock shelves and refrigerators with donated potatoes, carrots, milk, and eggs.

All the goods were shared by local farmers, who make up the Simcoe County Federation of Agriculture, said Dave Ritchie, 1st vice-president of the association.

While members donate goods individually, they also donate together, said Ritchie.

He was one of a dozen people on-hand on Thursday to pass over a cheque for $500 to the Good Shepherd Food Bank.

“People in rural Simcoe feel it’s fitting to supply our local food banks,” he said.

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The federation itself has been around 83 years, he said.

With a portion of their annual membership dues, they also give to their communities’ food banks, 4H clubs and building students’ bursaries.

In addition to the Alliston food bank, the federation delivers cheques to seven other sites, offering a $500 cheque to each in Orillia, Midland, Thornton and Tottenham to the tune of $4,000 each year.

“It’s an amazing lot of people who volunteer at the food banks. We do our best to help out,” he said.