Targa Newfoundland teams up with N.L. food bank to fill up shelves
CBC
Every September, cars competing in Targa Newfoundland — a rally spanning the entire island — fly through community streets.
This year, though, drivers will also be racing to stock up food bank shelves and feed those in need, says Targa's organizer.
Participants are expected to drive 2,000 kilometres in one week, beginning Sept. 12. They'll also be taking donations to help the Community Food Sharing Association, which supplies 60 food banks across Newfoundland and Labrador.
"Targa is all about helping poor communities — that's the lifestyle of Newfoundland. That's what makes Newfoundland different from anywhere else," Targa Newfoundland founder Robert Giannou told CBC News.
Communities support the race by letting cars on their roads, often in rural areas. It's those communities that could use the most help, Giannou said.
"That's where our economy is the roughest," he said.
Giannou said 100 per cent of what Targa Newfoundland collects, including monetary donations, will be going to the food bank.
"We decided that every stop we make this year, we'll be collecting donations for them and we're going to carry it on," Giannou said.
Giannou said Targa will be taking donations in other ways, too, including through admission to scheduled car shows in Gander, Clarenville and St. John's.
Giannou said he recently visited the food bank's warehouse and was shocked by what he saw.
"There is nothing there. It's empty. I'm not kidding," he said.
Community Food Sharing Association general manager Tina Bishop said Targa Newfoundland stepping up to help collect donations means a lot, especially at a time of year when donations are low.
"There's so many families in need right now and those families, unfortunately, have to turn to food banks to make ends meet," she said.
Bishop said from the spring into the fall there aren't many donations coming in, and they've run out of the supply they received over the holidays. As a result, they have to buy more food to stock the shelves.
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