Solo effort fills P.E.I. food bank

A man in eastern P.E.I., once reliant on the food bank himself, has filled the shelves in Montague just as they were getting bare.

Last week the Montague Food Bank was concerned it would soon run out of food, but now there's enough to last until Christmas, thanks to Robert Benoit.

"There was a low in our life one year that we had to use it, and we said well, if there's ever a time I can give back, I'll always give back," Benoit told CBC News Thursday.  

Last Monday, Benoit decided to take the day off work, in order to hand out flyers to every business in the area asking them to start gathering food donations. Friday, he spent the day going back to those businesses, picking up dozens of boxes in his minivan.

He had been expecting a couple of hundred kilograms. It turned out to be more than a tonne.

Lawrence Power, who helps run the food bank, was overwhelmed by the success of Benoit's food drive.

"Now that I see it on the tables and stuff, it's quite amazing all the food that came in," said Power.

"He did in grand style … I was helping him unload and I said, 'Robert, where were you sitting? The van was full.'"

Benoit filled the van twice.

Power said the food came in as another plan to fill the shelves was fizzling. A musical fundraiser Friday night has only sold 50 of 200 tickets.

Donations from Benoit's food drive, which will become an annual event, are still trickling in.