{"id":40294,"date":"2017-11-14T08:00:03","date_gmt":"2017-11-14T15:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/?p=40294"},"modified":"2017-11-30T14:49:37","modified_gmt":"2017-11-30T21:49:37","slug":"veterans-food-drive-creates-a-community-of-supporters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/2017\/11\/14\/veterans-food-drive-creates-a-community-of-supporters\/","title":{"rendered":"Veterans food drive creates a community of supporters"},"content":{"rendered":"

T<\/span>he 11th<\/sup> Annual Veterans Food Drive brought individuals together to support and honour the Canadian Veterans on Oct. 9 to Nov.14.<\/p>\n

C<\/span>algarians were encouraged to come out and support their Canadian Veterans by bringing non-perishable food to any donation boxes in certain venues.<\/p>\n

Since 2007, the Canadian Legacy Project has held a Veterans Food Drive<\/a> in support of the Veterans Food Bank and the Calgary Poppy Fund.<\/p>\n

The general manager of the Royal Canadian Legion (RCL) Calgary Branches Poppy Fund and Veterans Food Bank, John Rathwell said one reason for the food drive was to provide a better quality of life for Canadian Military veterans, young and old.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to build a community of supporters for our Canadian veterans,\u201d said Rathwell.<\/p>\n

A key component to the food drive, Rathwell said, was to educate the youth about the sacrifices that were made by the Veterans.<\/p>\n

\u201cDonations will assist us to continue to carry on and not break the faith with those who died.”<\/p>\n

Last year, according to Rathwell, was the city\u2019s biggest rally of food donations yet.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe succeeded in filling three warehouses full,\u201d said Rathwell.<\/p>\n

Three warehouses is about $500,000 worth of food donations, said Rathwell.<\/p>\n

This year’s food drive only runs till mid-November but the need continues throughout the year.<\/p>\n

A supporter of the project is the Imperial Sovereign Court of the Chinook Arch.<\/p>\n

The Chinook Arch is the oldest gay organization in Calgary, said Damion Worm, who is the group’s current leader.<\/p>\n

Worm said the organization decided back in April to start supporting the Calgary Veterans Food Drive.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve also selected the Children\u2019s Wish, the Sharp Foundations and also the HIV Community Link organizations this year,\u201d said Worm<\/p>\n

The organization does its part for the Veterans food drive by approaching venues that are used for their fund-raising events and putting collection boxes in each one.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe currently have collection boxes at Twisted Element, The Backlot and The Texas Lounge,\u201d Worm said.<\/p>\n

For each collection box, the Imperial Sovereign Court of the Chinook Arch attaches posters, which they make themselves as well as the ones provided by the Canadian Legacy Project.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were very happy to hear that our organization was getting involved,\u201d said Worm.<\/p>\n

Organizations are not the only ones getting involved to help support their veterans.<\/p>\n

Some individuals also go out of their way to donate their non-perishable items.<\/p>\n

Ares Mendoza, a full-time student at the CDI College, said this food drive helps raise awareness to help those veterans in need.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt helps them out in a bigger way,\u201d said Mendoza.<\/p>\n

We want to build a community of supporters for our Canadian veterans. – John Rathwell<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The food drive for Mendoza is a way to bring people together as a community to show their support.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wear a poppy to remember them and show my support.”<\/p>\n

Mendoza said an important message behind this food drive is that there are some people who aren\u2019t in the best situations so it is nice to help them out.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s good to remember the brave Canadians who fought for our country.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Oct. 9 to Nov. 14, the 11th Annual Veterans Food drive brings individuals together in support of the Canadian Veterans. [ READ MORE ]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":433,"featured_media":40456,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"_ef_editorial_meta_text_assignment-slug":"S4 Veterans Food Drive","footnotes":""},"categories":[1136],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-40294","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-image","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-remembrance-day","8":"post_format-post-format-image"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40294","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/433"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40294"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40294\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40960,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40294\/revisions\/40960"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}