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London’s biggest holiday food drive filled the Western Fair Agriplex with hundreds of boxes of non-parishables and left the London Food Bank with thousands of additional dollars in donations.
The Business Cares Food Drive collected 315,247 kg or 695,000 lbs of food, worth just over $2 million, which was calculated Friday when the campaign wrapped up.
“I call it more of a morning of magic,” said Wayne Dunn, the chair of Business Cares. “That’s truly what it is, it’s bringing the entire community together and sharing stories of the campaign.”
The annual food drive, which started three weeks ago, brings together local businesses to support more than 35 agencies and 90 food programs across the London region. As part of the campaign, volunteers also set up in 40 grocery stores to collect from shoppers.
In 2024, Business Cares collected approximately 310,000 kg or 683,000 lbs of food and cash donations, representing a nine per cent increase over 2023.
Business Cares didn’t set a goal for the drive this year, an intentional choice as times get tougher. Instead, Londoners were simply asked to give what they can, and only if they can, Dunn said.
“Obviously, we want to do what we did last year,” he said. “If we even come close to that, I’m one happy person.”
After the calculations were done, this year’s donations marked a 1.7 per cent increase from 2024.
Seeing businesses presenting their donation cheques and looking out at approximately 300 large boxes full of food and essential items is a sign of the London community’s health with regards to giving, said Jane Roy, co-Executive Director of the London Food Bank.
“It’s also a sign of the fact that we actually need to do this, which is not necessarily good,” she said.
Recent reports show food insecurity in London vastly increasing, with recent data from the Middlesex-London Health Unit showing around one in three Londoners are food insecure.
Still, the drive’s success was inspiring and encourages the London Food Bank to keep going, Roy added.
Everything collected in the Business Cares Food Drive helps make up the core of the food bank’s hampers, Roy explained, which help about 6,000 families a month, or 17,000 individuals.
More volunteers this year
Dunn has been running the food drive for 26 years, and what drives him is the impact he knows it makes.
“Demand at the food bank is continually increasing,” he said. “I’m able to do it and it’s a good thing. It’s nice that we’re helping other people.”
Business Cares is 100 per cent volunteer-driven, he said, and this year, more people and companies got involved than ever before, with 800 business and more than 1000 volunteers.
Although the drive is formally wrapped up, Business Cares continues to accept food donations at the Agriplex, as well as cash donations on their website.
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