The chair for the Grunthal Caring Hands Foodbank says they are in good shape from now until the fall food drive rolls around. 

Rob Warkentin notes they collected around 550 pounds of non-perishable food items in the parade in Grunthal this past weekend. He says they also collected some money which he adds helps pay for some of the items they buy out of pocket. Warkentin says they have around 45 clients who come by every other Wednesday who come anywhere from Grunthal to Kleefeld or St. Pierre, St. Malo and even Vita. 

Rob Warkentin

In terms of needs to stock their shelves, Warkentin notes they could always use the basics. "Whatever you see in your pantry, is something that we can take," says Warkentin," we also do know that there are gardens that are producing right now so if you have some extra produce, we'd be willing to take that as well. Clients are always appreciative of fresh produce like we all are." He adds if you're uncertain of what to give, Warkentin says they take cash donations as well which goes towards buying things like milk and eggs for their clients.

Warkentin says this collection came at a great time for them, "this is kind of that stopgap that we have between now and the FCC food drive that our local schools do here. This gets us over the hump here until the fall food drive." He notes they also get support from the Southeast Helping Hands Foodbank in Steinbach who provides them will a lot of the bread they require to fill hampers.

Warkentin says they are very grateful to the community for their support and adds if anyone would like to drop off food items, they can do so at the Grunthal Grocery Store, Grunthal MCC, St. Pierre Bigway and St. Malo Coop.