Valley View Alliance Church said their annual Jingle Bell Blitz was a success with more than 3,000 pounds of food collected for the Newmarket Food Pantry.
Every year volunteers from the church set up outside of Dickie’s No Frills on Leslie Street. They provide shoppers heading into the store with a list of the most needed items at the food pantry, asking them to pick up a few extra things during their regular grocery-run.
This year, the blitz was held on Saturday, Nov. 27 from 9 to 11:30 a.m.
During that time they collected 3,146 pounds of food and cash donations of about $300.
The donations were sorted in the truck on site by a team of volunteers before being delivered to the food pantry later in the afternoon.
With this amount of food, the group aims to stock the Newmarket Food Pantry for an entire month.
This was the 13th annual Jingle Bell Blitz and the food collected last weekend brings their total over the years to more than 48,000 pounds of food.
Garry James, pastor at Valley View Alliance Church, said it’s important for them to give back to the community and the blitz is just one way they offer support.
They also hold a community dinner every Sunday for those in need. It is held between 4 and 5:30pm at the church, which is located at 800 Davis Dr., in Newmarket.
