Tillsonburg curlers have given a $3,000 helping hand to Helping Hand Food Bank. That included $1,500 from senior curlers plus 460 pounds of food, with an estimated value of $1,500, collected in the curling club’s Christmas food drive.
For senior curlers the food bank donations started some 20 years ago when Bill Oke, one of the gang, put a jar labelled “Food Bank” on the counter. Curlers dropped cash in the jar when getting their morning coffee. Then the late Lang Gehman, both curler and food bank volunteer, started promoting the cause. At first it was pocket money, but the wallets and cheque books soon started to come out. Result: last curling season donations reached $2,375. They have added up to over $10,000 over the past five years.
The $1,500 presented to the food bank this month by Wade Jones, seniors curling league convenor, was the amount donated in the first half of the season. More will come at the season wind-up.
The same day, Henry Puhr brought the 460 pounds of food to the food bank. Samantha Hamilton, food bank coordinator received the gifts with a smile, saying they would be a big help in serving the 100 families per week that seek support. There are also 58 school children being helped in the Backpack Program.
Article written by Bill Pratt
