35th Annual Food and Toy Drive
That’s a wrap! The Annual DRPS Food and Toy Drive completed its 35th consecutive year collecting donations from various individuals, organizations and businesses across Durham Region. The annual drive is one of the largest consecutive running emergency service-led drives in Ontario.
With large increases in the cost of living, this year proved to be the most challenging, with every
food bank and charity experiencing higher demand. We posted a challenge to Durham Region to help make this the best year ever and the businesses and residents of Durham Region rose to the challenge.
We are proud to say this year saw record amounts of donations.
Shortly after the official launch of the drive, eight charitable food banks and not-for-profit organizations received a monetary boost to kick-start their Christmas hamper programs. Approximately 10 various weekend events were held and approximately 3,000 stuffed toys were donated through customer purchases and delivered to 26 nursing homes and hospitals as well as all our charities.
Donations were received from 74 businesses/schools and 12 youth minor hockey teams across the region. Food and Toy Drive volunteers also delivered food and/or toys to over 30 agencies and shelters across the region, with several of these agencies also assisting smaller not for profits.
On the final days of the drive, many charities advised that they were able to meet demands for assistance and more. Some have even been able to start stockpiling food for future months to assist those in need.
“I would like to extend a huge thank you to the volunteers and everyone in the community who attended events and donated over the holiday season,” said Cst. Darryl Rice. “Over the last eight years I have been continually humbled by the generosity and support of local businesses and residents to help those in need.”
This year he announced this was his last Food and Toy Drive, “l will be handing over the reins of this incredible drive to another DRPS member. I have been blessed to meet so many amazing individuals and organizations during this time and establish some cherished friendships. My heart truly goes out to our amazing volunteers, who really are the heartbeat and the backbone to the annual Food And Toy Drive, and are the ones that make it so successful.”
Thank you Cst. Rice for your commitment to ensuring the success of this drive and the countless volunteer hours you have dedicated to helping others over the last eight years.
