A group of community-minded volunteers are once again turning the phrase “porch pirate” into a good thing with a Peterborough-wide food drive for Kawartha Food Share on the Halloween weekend.
“Those most vulnerable in our community need our support,” reads a media release from Megan Murphy, one of the organizers of Porch Pirates for Good. “People need to eat, and we cannot abandon them. The shelves at Kawartha Food Share are low again and they need the help of the community to restock.”
As with a spring food drive organized earlier this year by Porch Pirates for Good, which collected a record-breaking 50,000 pounds of food for Kawartha Food Share, the “Trick or Eat” food drive will feature both a business challenge and a community challenge. The goal of the Halloween food drive is to collect another 50,000 pounds of food.
For the business challenge, which runs from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Friday (October 29), Porch Pirates for Good is asking Peterborough businesses to challenge each other to collect more than 20,000 pounds of non-perishable food items. Interested businesses should register by contacting Susan Dunkley at susan@suzihomemaker.ca or 705-768-7894.
The community challenge takes place on Saturday beginning at 9 a.m., when residents are asked to leave a bag of non-perishable food items on their front porch. Volunteers with Porch Pirates for Good will drive around the city to collect the items and deliver them to the Kawartha Food Share warehouse.
Needed food items include canned tuna, pasta and pasta sauce, breakfast cereal, peanut butter, non-perishable fruit and vegetable items including apple sauce, nut-free granola bars, rice, canned soup or stew, baby formula, and easy-to-cook items that kids like such as mac and cheese. Other needed items include feminine hygiene products and diapers.
Residents are asked to consider wearing a Halloween costume to greet volunteers when they arrive to pick up a donation (volunteers will be wearing face masks).
Anyone who is feeling ill or in isolation because of COVID-19 is asked not to leave a bag of food on their porch. A monetary donation can be made at www.kawarthafoodshare.com. For every dollar donated, Kawartha Food Share can purchase $6 worth of food.
For more information about Porch Pirates for Good and for updates, visit facebook.com/ptboporchpiratesforgood.
