“Do a little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world” 
~ Desmond Tutu

I saw this quote and immediately thought of how our Craig Bay Community comes together each fall to help The Salvation Army provide support to those in need in the Oceanside area.

We may not be overwhelming the world, but we have overwhelmed Major Norm Hamelin from The Salvation Army and The Parksville Volunteer Fire Department with our yearly donation. Last year, they were literally “overwhelmed” with our donation of $40,000.00 and 2300 pounds of food.

We have had a great start to the 2021 drive with the proceeds from the Craig Bay Charity Golf Event, the Elastic Band’s gig at The Craig Bay Museum and some early donations from residents.

We will be presenting Major Norm Hamelin with this early donation next week – $11,400!!!

Starting next week we will have two “drop off” days:

Tuesday and Thursday – from 10:00 am -12:00 pm.

Food Drive Volunteers will be at the Cape Cod entrance to the clubhouse to accept donations of food/grocery items and cheques, made payable to Mt. Arrowsmith Salvation Army.

Our volunteers had a great time last year, saying hello and thanking all who come by to donate. We have a great poster, made by Bill Webb, marking our progress. The goal this year is the same as last year – $25K – but we far exceeded that. Bill had to make 2 more thermometers!!

We will tally the weight and do a weekly drop off to the Food Bank. The weekly delivery to the Food Bank will help NOW as will our early donation of cash.

The Food Drive will go on for 6 weeks – our last donation day will be Thursday, November 11th – Remembrance Day – very fitting!

We will be making a presentation to The Salvation Army and The Parksville Volunteer Fire Department on Sunday, November 14 – time to be determined. We will have our “big cheque” on hand and I think this year, we may be able to have coffee and goodies. Fingers crossed!

I will keep you apprised of items that are needed at the Food Bank (canned goods are usually top of the list) and how our donations are being spent in our community. All proceeds to Mt Arrowsmith Salvation Army stay in our community and all donations over $10 will receive a tax receipt. 

Snowbirds – if you are heading out to seek warmer climes – come see us before you leave! We will send you on your way with gratitude and well wishes for a fun winter.

Respectfully submitted,
Penny Rutherford