Man donates $85,000 to London Food Bank as Thanksgiving Food Drive exceeds expectations

London Food Bank Thanksgiving Food Drive exceeds expectations. CTV's Brent Lale reports.

Co-Directors Glen Pearson and Jane Roy were surprised when a man arrived at the London Food Bank Sunday wanting to make a massive cash donation to help people in need.

“We just met with somebody who gave us $85,000 but didn’t want it to be part of the food drive per se,” says Pearson.

“Their awareness was raised during the course of the food bank, mostly thanks to the media. They hear about it and they just want to give.”

Pearson thanked everyone who spread the word about the food security crisis.

“At the start of the drive, 10 Canadian municipalities went on record, their city council saying State of Emergencies in their towns about food security. Londoners really came through, as they always do. We’re at 91,000 pounds at the moment. We were at 85,000 pounds last year, so we’re ahead of the game, but they’ve already exceeded expectations.”

Helping to push the Thanksgiving Food Drive over the top is the annual Turkey Trot run at Springbank Park.

“We’ve had many families come back year after year,” says Eric Mangi, a former organizer of the run. “They come down and they run their race and then head home to have their Thanksgiving dinner.”

Hundreds of people hit the cross-country course while making donations to the Food Bank.

“We hope that what we can raise goes a long way to help people out that need it,” says Brian Hagemeier, the current organizer of the Turkey Trot.

“Last year, I think we raised about $1,300 and about 400 pounds of food, so we’re hoping this year we’ll make that.”

Pearson says the past 10 days have been rewarding.

“You should see the people coming into the food bank or into the grocery stores, all sorts of different organizations, institutions, individuals, families, schools,” says Pearson.

“It was wonderful. I do think, though, that it’s a sign of the times and the reason why this generosity is like this is because the need is so great.”