Business Cares drive goes over top

In the face of plant closings, layoffs and tough economic times, London businesses banded together to beat their goal for the Business Cares Food Drive. Victor Harris, Manager of Business Development at Echidna, is part of the organizing committee and is very impressed with the generosity of the London Community.

The business community pushed the Business Cares food drive over its 2007 total, gathering 72,450 kilograms of food "” the equivalent of nearly 15 elephants "” compared to 59,850 kilograms last year, a 21-per-cent increase, said Wayne Dunn, food drive organizer.

"It is heart-warming. The Christmas spirit is alive and well in this community," he said yesterday.

The total dollar value of the donated food is $240,000, Dunn said.

"We get food and we get cheques to buy food with and the cheques have gone up substantially this year."

Though donations are up this year, so is the need as layoffs and plant closings have swept the manufacturing sector in Southwestern Ontario.

Statistics Canada reported this month there are 247,000 people working in London, compared to 250,000 in 2007. Manufacturing saw a significant drop with 26,900 working in the London region, a decline of 3,500 over the same period last year.

The increased demand means there has to be food on the shelves through the lean months of January and February "” and that is why this food drive is so important, Dunn said.

"People know times are tough and they dug a lot deeper," he said. "They really want to help the community."

These are excerpts taken from this London Free Press article, December 24th, 2008.