HALIFAX – Rogers Communications’ Step Up to the Plate initiative with Food Banks Canada arrived in Nova Scotia on Thursday, delivering food hampers that will provide more than 360,000 meals for local food banks.
The hampers will help fill the plates of more than 17,000 Nova Scotians across the province, says the company. (Pictured are the hampers and volunteers at the Halifax warehouse.)
As we’ve reported, the Step Up to the Plate initiative started in June at Rogers Centre in Toronto, with Rogers employee volunteers and their families filling food hampers with non-perishable food items that provide an individual with a week’s worth of meals.
Trucks loaded with hampers and pallets of food are on the move, destined for communities across Canada, where 8 million meals will be provided to Canadians when the initiative is completed this summer. The hampers have already been delivered in Ontario the Prairies and B.C.
“Nova Scotians are part of our extended family at Rogers, and when our family needs help, it’s our responsibility to step up and pitch in, through food donations, volunteering, and more,” said Matt MacLellan, Rogers’ president of Atlantic.
As the country begins to reopen, the economic impact of the pandemic continues to be significant, affecting food insecurity and demand at food banks. Food Banks Canada supports over 3,000 food banks and community agencies from coast-to-coast-to-coast and says many local food banks have been severely impacted by Covid-19, from decreased volunteers and donations to having to adapt their operations, making it more challenging to meet their clients’ needs.
“In a pandemic, barriers to food security are even bigger, and the support of food banks is especially critical,” said Nick Jennery, executive director, Feed Nova Scotia. “Since a state of emergency was first declared in Nova Scotia, we’ve not only remained fully operational; we’ve also been able to distribute more food than ever, thanks to the incredible support of donors like Rogers.”
Step Up to the Plate is part of Rogers’ The 60 Project, a year-long initiative to mark Rogers 60th anniversary by giving back to the communities in which it operates.
