A convoy of decorated vehicles brought much-needed donations to the food bank on Saturday during the annual Auto Mall Food Drive.
Participating in the event were all nine dealers of the Fraser Valley Auto Mall, Automall Autobody, Save-On-Foods and Abbotsford Fire Rescue Service (AFRS).
Dave Murray of the Abbotsford Food Bank said the total value is still being tallied, but 18 case-lot pallets of food were contributed as well as another five pallets of unsorted food.
He said the campaign helped boost the situation at the food bank, which, at the beginning of the month, was reporting a 15-year low in donations.
The food drive donations were collected through door-to-door canvassing by AFRS members and by drop-off donations at all participating businesses.
All the items were delivered in a convoy that departed from the auto mall on Mt. Lehman Road on Saturday morning.
About a dozen decorated vehicles from the auto mall were accompanied by a number of AFRS trucks, Abbotsford Police vehicles, and a large Save-On-Foods truck along South Fraser Way to the food bank on Essendene Avenue.
Murray said even with the donation, the food bank is still behind. He said there are 160 available spots for pallets of food in the food bank warehouse, and 69 of those spots are still empty.
However, cash donations have picked up, and the agency is now at almost $556,000 toward its $850,000 goal for the holiday season.
Funds raised at this time of the year keep the food bank going year round.
For more information or to make a donation, call 604-859-5749 or visit abbotsfordfoodbank.com.