On Friday, October 14, 2016, people had started lining up at 6am to receive free food and clothing at the 11th annual Thanksgiving Food and Clothing Drive being held at Southland Church in Steinbach.
The event venue housed 27,000 lbs of clothing, shoes, toys, bedding and household items in addition to 36,500 lbs of food. “Over 2,500 people attended the event this year and we were thrilled to give away a total of 1,619 hampers,” co-organizer Grace Hiebert shared. “Every year I tear up as I see the smiles on people’s faces and know that we were able to make a difference in their lives.”
This was the 11th annual Food and Clothing Drive for the local church and involved over 1,000 volunteers. “It was great to see the young adults and young married couples putting bags of fresh vegetables together for the hampers,” Hiebert said. We even had two classes from Steinbach Christian School volunteer.” Hiebert also noted that the event is run totally by volunteers of all ages, including many seniors who sort the clothing.
Each year, the Church looks forward to helping people in need. Visitors attending the event are mainly from Steinbach and surrounding areas, but a good number of people come from Winnipeg as well.
Next year’s Food and Clothing Drive will be held, at Southland Church in Steinbach, on the Friday following Thanksgiving, October 13th, 2017.
