People in need of the services of the local food bank will benefit directly from a new fundraiser coming up in May.
Sidney Lions Food Bank Executive Director Bev Elder is announcing the event — Breakfast with the Bank — early to help fill tables with some of the many supporters of the food bank.
Elder, who says she got the idea from another B.C. food bank, is reaching out to potential ‘table captains’ — individuals who are willing and able to reach out to their business and social circles to fill tables of 10 seats. These are people, she explained, who will know right off the bat that they are coming to breakfast to donate to the food bank.
“We already have all three municipal mayors from the Peninsula,” Elder said, “as well as (MP and federal leader of the Green Party) Elizabeth May, and Gary Holman (NDP MLA for Saanich North and the Islands). Other packages have gone out to other people, hoping they will be table captains as well.
“We are hoping to be able to fill 10 tables this first time,” Elder said.
There is no cost to buy a table, she added.
“They are just going to be filled with people who are coming to donate — any denomination — to the food bank.”
Elder said she based Breakfast with the Bank on a similar fundraiser run by the Surrey Food Bank. That program has been running for years now, and last year she said, it raised $100,000.
Elder said her goal for the first Breakfast with the Bank is to fill the tables — and see what the donors will bring with them.
“It will be nice to have the many people who support us already come out,” she said.
“We already have a bit of a slogan for the event: We get you up early, we feed you a crummy breakfast and then we make you pay.”
The breakfast itself will be a continental format, with muffins, fruit and more — and plenty of hot coffee.
Elder added this is one of the first fundraising events in recent years that is being run by the Sidney Lions Food Bank itself.
“There are plenty of great groups in the community who do events for us every year and we are very grateful,” she said. “And now, we wanted to try it out too.”
Breakfast with the Bank is May 6 at the SHOAL Centre on Resthaven Drive in Sidney. It runs from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. and will be emceed by Bruce Williams of CHEK Television.
For more details or to find out how to become a table captain, contact Bev Elder at the Sidney Lions Food Bank at 250-655-0679 or at 250-888-4381.