Ten Meyers Norris Penny (MNP) offices across the province took part in a competitive, provincial food drive in support of their local food banks, with a goal to raise 4,000 pounds in donations. For two weeks, the offices played games and challenged each other to donate. By the October 13 deadline, MNP had raised a grand total of 11,801 pounds of food for food banks across Saskatchewan.
The Weyburn office raised an incredible 1596 pounds of food donations and in fact won the MNP provincial contest, narrowly edging out their counterparts in Humboldt and Estevan. With only 22 team members in their office, this accomplishment took 100% staff participation, although the competitive spirit brought about by the geographic rivalries may have played a role in its success.
This has been an interesting year for food banks across the province. In southern Saskatchewan the spring flooding placed a strain on quite a few families, which yielded an increase of approximately five more families per month who needed assistance.
MNP hopes to once again contribute to this worthy cause next year, with the goal of exceeding the total donations they brought it in 2011 and putting a larger focus on providing nutritious donations for those communities susceptible to high rates of diabetes.
The Farm Credit Canada (FCC) Drive Away Hunger program is a unique food drive concept that focuses on reducing hunger in rural Canada. Since 2004, this event has collected more than 7.6 million pounds of food for food banks across Canada. This year's FCC Drive Away Hunger initiative generated a total of 442,463 pounds of food for food banks across Saskatchewan and 2.4 million pounds of food across the country.
