Fort Erie food banks open to exploring community-wide food drive

Staff at two Fort Erie food banks agree that a door-to-door food drive like ones held in other parts of Niagara would be an ambitious task for the community, but also one that could be pulled off.

This weekend, the Port Colborne Lions Club will continue its more-than-40-year-old tradition of collecting donations for Port Cares from driveways and porches across the city.

On November 1, a collective of volunteers and organizations in Welland will do the same and bring in thousands of pounds of food, along with cash donations, split between three food banks in that community.

At these events, trucks head into designated parts of each city with volunteers quickly walking behind and gathering donations from homes.

Organizers in Port Colborne said last year’s event brought in 8,390 kilograms of food.

Niagara This Week reached out to Community Outreach Program Erie (COPE) and the Fort Erie Salvation Army food bank recently to ask if they think such an event could come together in Greater Fort Erie.

“I definitely think it’s something that can happen,” said COPE manager Lynne Rey, who has been in the position for two years.

She’s aware of at least one instance when a realtor organized a door-to-door collection in the Crescent Park neighbourhood, but nothing beyond that on a larger scale across the entire town.

It would take involvement from community organizations and service clubs, especially ones who have multiple branches in Greater Fort Erie.

“I think that’s something we could co-ordinate with them,” said Rey, adding it would be “about finding the right people” to collaborate with.

Rey said she may reach out to agencies in Port Colborne and Welland who are involved with door-to-door food drives in those cities to seek advice.

Fort Erie has a growing population of more than 34,000 people.

Its geographic size is more than 167 square kilometres, which includes Ridgeway, Crystal Beach and Stevensville.

Port Colborne has more than 21,000 residents within its 122-sq-km boundary.

There is a lot more ground to cover in Fort Erie and more homes to collect from.

Fort Erie Salvation Army food bank co-ordinator Sabrina Marcantonio said such an event could be done, but it’s not an easy task that can be planned overnight.

“It would take an army of volunteers and external organizations to assist in co-ordinating it,” she said, adding she has seen an opinion shared on social media that the community should explore such a collection.

Barb Volzke was at the helm of COPE for 40 years until she retired in 2023.

She said the idea was kicked around in the past, but manpower was always the biggest deterrent.

“There were a couple of times we tried something like that, but we didn’t have enough volunteers,” she said. “I think it would be a great idea, but everything behind organizing it is huge.”

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