Loaves and Fishes' Food 4 Summer campaign is going on the road – and off-road, too.
A team from Loaves and Fishes Community Food Bank left Nanaimo on Tuesday, June 25, on a cycling and running tour along highways and logging roads, passing through Chemainus, Lake Cowichan, Port Alberni, Courtenay, Campbell River, Gold River, Tahsis, Zeballos and Port Hardy.
Peter Sinclair, executive director of Loaves and Fishes, has previously traversed mountain bike trails and even Mount Benson in support of the food bank's summer fundraising efforts, and said before embarking that he and his team members were ready for the multi-day excursion that will continue through Saturday, June 29.
"The longest I've ridden in a day was 320 kilometres, but I've also done multi-day trips,” he said. “We're riding anywhere between 10 and 14 hours a day, so I know I'm capable of doing this sort of thing, but I am getting older and at some point, I'll get too old that I can't do this, but hopefully it's not this year."
Loaves and Fishes services 44 communities across Vancouver Island and sees a drop in donations in the summer. Sinclair says the month-long Food 4 Summer campaign seeks to raise $45,000.
"That's why we started the Food 4 Summer campaign was to raise food and raise funds at really, what is the leanest time of the year ... We've got bins in all the grocery stores, they can drop food off there, or they can bring [donations] into our warehouse at 210 Fry St.," said Sinclair.
Unrelated to Food 4 Summer, the food bank is continuing to work toward its 25,000-square foot facility on East Wellington Road that will include a warehouse and office space. Plans for that project are continuing, though more money is needed. With money and in-kind support from the City of Nanaimo, the Regional District of Nanaimo and the B.C. government and a request for federal funding, Loaves and Fishes would have $8.7 million toward an estimated total of $15.7 million needed, said Sinclair. The board recently passed a motion to proceed, pending availability of funding or financing, and excavators are expected at the property in August.
"We should have a building permit any moment," said Sinclair. "Right now we continue to work with the federal government … [and] we're hopeful that something can come through there. But we are also looking at having financing options to make sure that we can actually get this completed because we need this warehouse now."
For more information, or to donate to the Food 4 Summer program online, visit www.nanaimoloavesandfishes.org.
