Food collection, increased awareness goals of Drive Away Hunger tour

BY JOHN DECOSTE

jdecoste@kentvilleadvertiser.ca

NovaNewsNow.com

With its Drive Away Hunger tour, Farm Credit Canada is not only looking to collect food for local food banks, but to focus awareness both on the importance of agriculture and the role of food banks in today’s society.

On Oct. 14, the Drive Away Hunger tour will see tractors hauling large flatbed trailers leave simultaneously from Amherst, Antigonish and Annapolis Royal, stopping along the way to pick up food donations.

The three-day tour will conclude with a wrap-up event Thursday, Oct. 16 in Halifax, at which time the three segments of the tour will come together, culminating in the donation of what is hoped will be 45,400 kg (100,000 pounds) of food to Feed Nova Scotia.

The Valley portion of the tour will begin in Annapolis Royal Tuesday morning, Oct. 14 and travel east on Highway 1, making stops (both by tractor and trailer and by minivan) in communities, at schools and sponsoring businesses along the way.

Day one will end – and day two on Wednesday begin – at the Scotian Gold Country Store in Coldbrook, from where the tour will proceed through a number of stops, some of them lengthy, in Kentville, New Minas, Wolfville and Hantsport before halting in Windsor.

Day three will see the tour drive from Windsor to Lower Sackville then complete the journey into Halifax for the wrap-up event on the grounds of the Maritime Fall Fair.

“Since agriculture is our business, we have a pretty good relationship with agricultural organizations,” says tour manager John Hutchings, who is based in Charlottetown.

“We believe in giving back to the communities we serve while, at the same time, providing the public with a really strong visual symbol of what we’re doing.”

Enter the tractors hauling flatbed trailers. “We wanted to be able to haul a lot of food

at a time and also have the public able to see the food we’ve collected,” Hutchings said.

Several drop-off locations

There are several drop-off locations in the Coldbrook to Wolfville area, including Scotian Gold, the Kentville Agriculture Research Station, the County Fair Mall and Kent Co-op.

The tour will also be making a lengthy stop, about an hour beginning around 1 p.m. Wednesday, at Acadia University, where the Acadia Students’ Union and some of the university’s varsity sports teams have been heavily involved in the campaign.

Two local companies - Van Oostrum Farm Equipment in Canning and Planters Equipment in Steam Mill - are providing the tractors for the Valley portion of the tour.

Hutchings confirmed that in partnership with Feed Nova Scotia, the goal of the tour is to collect over 100,000 pounds (45,400 kg) of food which will, in turn, be distributed by Feed Nova Scotia to food banks throughout the province, including here in the Valley.

“We’re well on the way to our goal with the commitments we’ve received so far,” Hutchings said Oct. 1. “With the donations of food and cash to-date, combined with what we collect on the actual tour, we’re well-positioned to reach our goal.”

He said that along with collecting the actual food, “we’re hoping to create a lot of awareness, and to sound a call in support of Feed Nova Scotia. It will also serve as an opportunity to thank all the volunteers along the way who do this work on a daily basis.”

Hutchings wanted to remind potential donors not to be scared off by the fact that Feed Nova Scotia is a Halifax-based organization. “All the food Feed Nova Scotia collects is distributed to food banks throughout the province, regardless of where they are.”

For more information on the Drive Away Hunger tour, including the tour stops and drop-off locations, visit the tour’s website at www.driveawayhunger.com.