Digging deep for a good cause at today’s annual Santa Claus Parade

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – The Santa Claus Parade not only takes over the streets of Downtown Vancouver today, it’s also an opportunity to dig deep for a good cause.


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And for the head of the Greater Vancouver Food Bank, Aart Schuurman Hess, the event means so much. “We raise 40 per cent of our monetary revenue in the last three months of the year and December of course is the peak of that.”

He’s inviting everyone coming to the parade to bring cash donations and to keep up the donations, if you can, through the holiday season. “They go a long way. We have the ability to convert that $1 into at least $3 worth of food.”

And while cash is great, non-perishable food items are welcome too, however, there are some goods they’d rather not see, like leftover Halloween candy. “It’s a wonderful thing for kids but parents normally want their kids to eat all that stuff and then it ends up at the Greater Vancouver Food Bank.”

Schuurman Hess explains it would also be appreciated if people didn’t bring items that are really old. “If it was way beyond the best-before date, destroy it yourself, because otherwise it’s an expense to us to get rid of that product.”

He says the donations are critical during the holidays as the food bank is serving roughly 27,000 people every week and they’re pleading for the community’s support. “Think about canned beans, think about canned fish, canned chicken or whole grain pasta or brown rice — these are awesome products for people to donate.”

Various nut butters can also go a long way.

The parade route starts at Georgia and Broughton Streets, heads east on Georgia, turns south on Howe Street, and wraps up at Howe and Davie Streets.

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