A $19,000 donation from the 10 dealers of the Fraser Valley Auto Mall and local Save-On-Foods locations was presented Wednesday (Dec. 22) to the Archway Abbotsford Food Bank.
The money was raised by the merchants in place of their annual food drive that culminates in a convoy travelling from the auto mall across town to deliver food and money to the food bank.
Auto mall manager Steve Magown said some last-minute donations are due to come in and will raise the amount contributed.
The auto mall has been unable to hold the food drive during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the 2019 event raised $15,000 in food and cash.
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The recent flooding situation has resulted in the Archway Food Bank seeing a record number of clients accessing their services.
This includes 250 new families who had never previously used the food bank.
The agency also expects to serve more than 3,500 people over the holiday season, with 40 per cent of them being children.
Record numbers of seniors are also accessing the services. The food bank currently delivers food to 170 seniors who are not able to easily leave their homes.
The auto mall dealers recently contributed $22,000 to the Abbotsford Disaster Relief Fund at a time when supply-chain issues have impacted their businesses.
The food bank serves as the Christmas Bureau at this time of year, providing food hampers and gifts for families and seniors. Visit abbotsfordfoodbank.com for more information or to make a donation.
Merchants who contributed to the $19,000 donation were:
• Fraser Valley Auto Mall Association
• Abbotsford Chrysler
• Abbotsford Hyundai
• Abbotsford Nissan
• Abbotsford Volkswagen
• MSA Ford
• Murray GM Abbotsford
• Murray Kia Abbotsford
• OpenRoad Toyota Abbotsford
• The Honda Way
• VIP Mazda
• Save-On-Foods Clearbrook
• Save-On-Foods Sumas
• Save-On-Foods Whatcom