Ontario Churches Collect 50,000 Pounds of Food

Working together on a city-wide food drive at Halloween is a new tradition for a group of churches in St. Catharines, Ontario, called “The Bridges.” This year they collected more than 50,000 pounds of food for the local food bank.

Volunteer Casey Vanden Bogert braves stormy weather to collect food.

Christian Reformed churches are among the 20 congregations whose leaders meet monthly to exchange information and support among pastors, staff, and volunteers. The harvest food drive is one the group’s biggest initiatives.

According to Rev. James Dekker of Covenant CRC, the cold and rainy weather did not dampen the spirits of the 63 volunteers from his congregation who together brought in 4,155 pounds of food, which they displayed at the front of the church during the following Sunday’s worship service.

Many stories of good will come out of the event, according to Dekker.

“One man said he’d forgotten to fill the bag but asked where he could drop it off. I told him and, of course, figured I’d seen the last of him. But when we were at church he came walking up from the parking lot carrying a full bag.”

Rev. Aaron LeGrow of Lakeshore Baptist Church said people’s excitement to be the hands and feet of Jesus in their community grows greater each year.

“The community has seen a new perspective that churches, although denominationally different, are uniting for one common good to help our community,” he said.