By Pepper Parr
November 4, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
They came trooping through the door – lugging boxes and bags of food that would be weighed, tagged and then distributed to one of the close to 100 bins that were set out on the floor of the gymnasium of Nelson High School where the Giving Back project, celebrating its tenth year was taking place.
Judie Kavanaugh updates the tally of food as it gets carried into the Nelson gymnasium and weighed
At 11:30 last night Judie Kavanagh told us that they had 164,908.93 lbs of food and added the comment that it was “not a bad start” – more than half way to the target – expect them to reach and pass the target.
The food comes into the high school gymnasium in boxes and bags.
All the planning and preparing done at endless committee meetings came to a head as food kept arriving and young people were scooting back and forth with boxes and bags.
Jean Longfield, a recipient of the Burlington’s Best Citizen of the Year award, and John Tate roamed the room answering questions, doing interviews and guiding people who were not quite sure what to do next.
The scale sits on the floor where it is weighed and recorded.
Tate stood in the background greeting people and congratulating those who came through the door with cartons of food.
Parents who normally pack the kids into the vans and take them to hockey games were now sitting at tables tabulating the totals those same children were bringing into the gymnasium.
Hockey players take packages from the sorting tables to the bins.
It is a significant logistical challenge – the Gazette will report on where all that food goes and how the team that makes it happen debriefs and plans for the next year.
Jean Longfield during a CHCH interview – with John Tate in the background keeping an eye on things.
Last year, The Gift of Giving Back collected more than 278,000 lbs of food and this year, hopes to exceed that amount and collect more than 305,000 lbs.
