CBC Thunder Bay, RFDA, Wasaya aim sky-high with holiday fundraiser
Plane full of food to be flown to Sandy Lake First Nation in Ontario's far north
This holiday season, CBC Thunder Bay, the Regional Food Distribution Association, and Wasaya Airways are aiming sky-high with a food donation drive, in support of a remote northern Ontario community.
The goal is pack a cargo plane full of food, to be flown to Sandy Lake First Nation.
"It's extremely exciting," said Volker Kromm, executive Director of the Regional Food Distribution Association (RFDA).
"We're actually going to be flying about 10,000 pounds [4,500 kg] of food — much needed food — in hampers to the community for the very first time."
In recent years, the RFDA has put a greater focus on helping communities in the far north, where food prices are high, and food security is low, Kromm said.
Sandy Lake, a fly-in community located about 600 km northwest of Thunder Bay, is one of the communities that has requested help.
Some of the food will be trucked all the way from southern Ontario to Thunder Bay before being packed in the plane, Kromm said, and the rest will be collected in Thunder Bay, as part of CBC's annual Sounds of the Season charity event, taking place on December 9.
Food donations will be collected until December 9 at CBC Thunder Bay, and at the Thunder Bay police station on Balmoral St. Both food and cash donations are being accepted at the RFDA building on Syndicate Ave.