An event to collect food donations in support of organizations across Windsor-Essex is coming back for a second year.
The 27th Miracle collected over two-million pounds of food donations during last year's event.
This year, the organizers are asking groups that want to benefit from the event to register ahead of time so they can prepare them for how to receive the donations.
Organizer Matt Hernandez told AM800's The Morning Drive that the need has never been greater and there is a lot of food shortages within the food banks, which is why they're doing it again this year.
Hernandez says the event is quite simple.
"We just ask that every person in {Windsor} Essex County, that is able to of course, put one non-perishable food good on their front porch by noon on June 27," he says. "Basically, a volunteer in your community will be around to pick it up and make sure that good gets put in the hands of people in the local community who need it the most."
Non-perishable food items stored at the WFCU Centre at 8787 McHugh St. for The Miracle Food Drive on Saturday June 27, 2020 (Photo by AM800's Gord Bacon)
Hernandez says that one of their goals is to empower and strengthen the community connection.
"We're really going to be trying to empower the organizations that need the help to register with us," he says. "We're going to be providing this nice big playbook on how to do this. We really fell that will be a key part to make sure this is sustainable over the long-term."
Hernandez says last year they collected and kept all the donations at the WFCU Centre, which caused some challenges when it came time to sort and distribute the food.
"We're looking to have the organizations and the local community set-up a lot more drop-off and pick-up points and distribution points as well," he says. "So we're really trying to get the organizations onboard to not only stock their food shelves but also have more, 50 to 100 different types of storage facilities."
On Sunday, June 27, residents are asked to put a food donation — no matter how big or small — on the front porch by noon. Those donations will then be collected by volunteers.
More information on the fundraiser and how to volunteer can be found at www.june27miracle.ca.
Over 10,000 people volunteered for last year's event.