Trick or Eat is coming. Don’t worry, it’s not a zombie thing.
On Halloween night, Oct. 31, over 1,000 University of Guelph students – some likely in zombie get-ups – will spill out into the streets of Guelph, collecting food donations for local food banks. They will be everywhere. And they will be hungry – hungry for non-perishable food.
Last year, 1,300 students collected 36,000 pounds of food, the equivalent of $60,000 worth of grub.
The food drive helps the Guelph Food Bank reach its targets, and gives a large-scale push to the organization’s very busy fall and winter season, when its food stocks are in high demand.
Pauline Cripps, Guelph Food Bank marketing and communications coordinator, said Wednesday that the organization’s annual Thanksgiving food drive fell about 30,000 pounds shy of a 80,000 pound target.
But Trick or Eat will certainly help offset that shortfall, she said.
“I find at lot of people tend to keep their donations aside because they know that Trick or Eat is happening,” Cripps said. “They have their donations ready at the door, and we see a lot of our Thanksgiving food drive bags come in at that time. Usually Trick or Eat pushes us over our goal.”
Students make an extra effort to dress up in their most elaborate costumes before canvassing the entire city for donations. They bring what they gather back to the food bank location at 100 Crimea Street on the same night, where the food is stored and then sorted.
“Once Trick or Eat is done, then we are full into our Christmas programs,” she added. “Especially once the Santa Claus parade happens, it is all Christmas from then until the New Year.”
Christmas is generally the busiest time of the year for the Guelph Food Bank, and the time when people are in a giving mindset and willing to give more, she said.
“It’s an amazing time of year to see how the community comes together,” Cripps added.
Food raised by Trick or Eat is shared with Guelph Food Bank’s small, satellite food banks, including one on U of G campus run by the Central Student Association.
For the Trick or Eat drive, the food bank is hoping to get lots of peanut butter, canned meats, canned vegetables, pasta sauces, rice and meal helpers – the staples on the organization’s shelves.
