VANCOUVER and WINNIPEG – Rogers Communications Step Up to the Plate initiative with Food Banks Canada has arrived in British Columbia and Manitoba, the company announced Thursday.
The company is delivering food hampers that will provide more than 1,343,000 meals for local food banks in B.C., which will help fill the plates of more than 63,000 British Columbians. In Manitoba, Rogers is delivering food hampers that will provide more than 393,000 meals for local food banks which will help more than 18,000 Manitobans.
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. On arrival in B.C., local Rogers employee volunteers (pictured above), worked with the Greater Vancouver Food Bank in Burnaby and the Central Okanagan Food Bank in Kelowna to organize and continue stuffing thousands of food hampers for distribution to local food banks to help those who need it most.
According to Food Banks Canada, which supports over 3,000 food banks and community agencies in the country – 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, says the press release.
“This is an outstanding initiative by Rogers,” said Heather Stefanson, Manitoba’s Deputy Premier and Minister of Families, in the company release. “The Manitoba government is very grateful for the donation… The leadership and corporate generosity shown by Rogers will help families struggling with meal disruption due to Covid-19. This substantial gift will have a meaningful impact for many Manitobans.”
Step Up to the Plate is part of The 60 Project, a year-long initiative to mark Rogers 60th anniversary by giving back and building a stronger Canada.
