Approximately 250 youth collected 12,000 pounds of food this week for the Helping Hands food bank in Steinbach.

Hank Klassen says they were expecting between 13,000 and 14,000 pounds of food from the annual Farm Credit Canada Drive Away Hunger campaign, but not all of the food has come in yet.

“We have a couple of schools to pick up from yet, so I think the total will equal last year or even beat it, so I'm very happy.”

Jason Heide is a Youth Pastor at SEMC on Main Street, he's helped organize the local youth groups that take part in the door to door food collection for the last five years. “It's great to teach kids at this age already the value of serving and helping people, and for them to see the generosity and the need that's out there. The kids love sharing stories of their experiences and funny stories of the generosity of people. They are always surprised at how much people are willing to give. ”

Klassen says they provide basic grocery and household items to 320 families every two weeks and that number continues to grow. He says this food drive is very important, because without it, they wouldn't be able to run 12 months of the year.

“This is the biggest food drive, we also have one at Christmas time and on parade day. So far those three are enough to keep us going, but our numbers have grown so we'll have to look at that.”

Some of the most needed items are canned soup, canned vegetables, and pasta. Klassen adds, many people don't think of paper products like toilet paper, paper towel, and facial tissue as groceries, but they are very important household necessities.  

Klassen notes, anyone wanting to donate grocery or household items can drop it off in the bin at the food bank on Main Street, or if they have volunteers available pickup arrangements can also be made.