2019 Edgar Burton Christmas Food Drive Another Success

(Article from the Sudbury Star)

Edgar Burton Christmas Food Drive brings in another 100 tons

he Edgar Burton Christmas Food Drive and Kids Helping Kids campaign wrapped up another successful year Wednesday, with the support of the Rainbow District School Board and more than 250 local businesses.

“We are so grateful for each and every donation to the Edgar Burton Christmas Food Drive and Kids Helping Kids. The food and money collected through this campaign will once again provide one-quarter of the needs of the Sudbury Food Bank for the entire year,” Mellaney Dahl, president of the Sudbury Food Bank, said in a release.

The Edgar Burton Christmas Food Drive is expected to collect more than 100 tons of food again this year. The annual campaign has collected more than 1,000 tons of food since it first began.

“It’s rare that a single individual can start a tradition like this in the workplace and in a community,” said Mike McCann, head of Mining and Milling for Vale’s North Atlantic Operations. “We’re proud to continue the tradition that Edgar started at our operations so many years ago.”

Edgar Burton, a Vale Divisional Shops employee for 36 years, started the annual food drive 32 years ago in his workplace when his daughters asked him if they could start collecting food for the less fortunate. Today, Vale donates the time of one full-time and one part-time United Steel Worker (USW) Local 6500 employee for about two months to organize the Edgar Burton Christmas Food Drive.

“USW Local 6500 is proud to uphold Edgar Burton’s vision of one more can than last year,” said Nick Larochelle, president of USW Local 6500. “We would like to thank our members, Jeff LaLonde and Alain Jalbert from Vale’s Divisional Shops, and all the volunteers for their work on this year’s campaign.

“A big thank you also goes out to all the people that have taken the time to make a donation once again this year. Every year this is an uplifting event for many people and we look forward to participating in the annual Edgar Burton Christmas Food Drive for another 30 years.”

The Sudbury Food Bank provides food to about 11,000 people every month through more than 40 member agencies and outreach programs. Of those clients, over half are children.

Before his passing in 2010, Edgar Burton launched the Kids Helping Kids campaign, which engages school children in the food drive and teaches them about the importance of giving back to their community.

Read the full article from the Sudbury Star by clicking here.