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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, April 18, 2014 | 6 Fareshare depends on Easter food drive While an Easter Sunday brunch or dinner is a fairly common tradition in many households, an increasing number of Oakville residents still struggle to afford their most basic nutritional requirements. Many of the items most of us take for granted during weekly trips to the grocery store are simply not in the budget for residents who rely on local food banks. Despite being one of the wealthiest communities in Canada, Oakville is not immune to poverty or hunger. Need proof? Several food banks operate in town, including an emergency operation under the umbrella of the Salvation Army of Oakville, to Fareshare food bank, which has operated since 1988. Fareshare is a non-pro t organization run entirely by volunteers, and receives no funding from any level of government. It depends entirely on the generosity of the Oakville community. After one of the longest, coldest winters in recent memory, the shelves of local food banks and satellite providers are getting low and organizers are hoping to replenish them. Fareshare is in fact winding up its annual Easter food drive this weekend and is already expressing disappointment at the slow pace of donations. If you're making a Saturday trip to the market, nonperishable goods in highest demand include: peanut butter (500 gram jars); powdered laundry soap; soda crackers (four sleeves); rice/pasta side dishes; cookies, crackers and desserts; tea (regular and herbal); jam and cold cereal; diapers (No. 5 and 6); baby cereal and biscuits; and instant coffee. Canned items are also needed, including ham (small and large), salmon, potatoes, tomatoes, chunky stew, peas, and pasta -- as well as, kids snacks such as juice boxes, pudding and fruit cups, raisins (small boxes), and rice-crisp squares. Those not able to make a special trip to pick up food to donate can instead make a nancial contribution, which helps purchase large volumes of bulk and fresh nutritious food at a lower cost. Monetary donations also garner a charitable tax receipt. Fareshare food drive and volunteer co-ordinator Ron Ziegel says the response leading up to the Easter drive kickoff was slow compared to previous years. The drive kicked off April 5 and this week, Nancy Bromberg, Fareshare volunteer president, told the Oakville Beaver donations have been slow. The Easter food drive is one of the most important for Fareshare, which currently serves 350-400 families (approximately 1,200 people) every month. All clients are initially interviewed to ensure they qualify, and regularly thereafter to determine that their circumstances have not changed. "The food bank is very dependent on the Easter food drive, as the food collected at this time of year has to last until the Thanksgiving food drive," said Bromberg. The drive continues through tomorrow (Saturday) and there are drop-off bins at all Oakville grocery stores, re stations and at Fareshare, 1240 Speers Rd., Unit 6. For more information, visit Fareshare's website at www.oakvillefoodbank.com. C E Editorial L E B R A T I N G "Connected to your Community" E A S T E R 447 Speers Road, Oakville ON, L6K 3S4 General Inquiries: (905) 845-3824 Editorial Department: (905) 632-0588 Classi ed Advertising: (905) 632-4440 Circulation: 5300 Harvester Rd., Burlington (905) 631-6095 Volume 52 | Number 47 The Oakville Beaver is a division of Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. Vice ­President and Group Publisher of Metroland West Regional General Manager Halton Region Editor in Chief Advertising Director NEIL OLIVER DAVID HARVEY JILL DAVIS DANIEL BAIRD Managing Editor ANGELA BLACKBURN RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director Business Manager SANDY PARE MARK DILLS Rev. Joseph Asselin led his congregation from St. Cuthbert's Anglican Church around the church property for a Palm Sunday Procession -- accompanied by two donkeys -- in a re-enactment of Jesus' arrival in Jerusalem more than 2,000 years ago. Asselin, left, leads the way as congregation members Emily Bamford, 13, and Jordan Mackay, 10, help handler Ruth Gillespie with donkey Bob Ray along the route. | photo by Graham Paine­ Oakville Beaver (Follow on Twitter @halton_photog or facebook.com/HaltonPhotog) Director of Production MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager Director of Distribution CHARLENE HALL KIM MOSSMAN Circulation Manager Letter to the Editor Not everyone a fan of Fair Elections Act Re: Young responds to recent protest, Oakville Beaver, Friday, April 4, 2014 Whilst I respect Oakville MP Terence Young's commitment to defend the proposed Fair Elections Act brought forward by the governing Conservative Party, I cannot respect the attitudes and thinking it represents. First, it assumes everyone who is eligible to vote should be living the residential and nancially stable life of the majority of middle class Canadians; a way of life that provides all kinds of identi cation as to who they are and where they live. This is by no means the case for aboriginal people, students and even the seriously ill. In any case, both federal and provincial Electoral Of cers state there is no evidence of major electoral fraud. Second, the limitations placed on the role of the Chief Elections Of cer in controlling and promoting voting plus the requirement for government approval for the staf ng of polling Proud Official Media Sponsor For: Canadian Circulations Audit Board Member stations, make the election process far more under government in uence and, consequently, less independent and, possibly, less fair. Third, the limits placed on the spending of independent organizations to express opinions on signi cant elections issues, continues the government's policy of seeking to silence those who challenge their priorities and policies. Fourth, any elections act that has not been developed with input from other political parties, Elections Canada, the Public Prosecutor, democratic reform organizations and, above all, the general public, is in and of itself an undervaluing of the importance of election to all. This is a classic case of the present Conservative government's commitment to control our democracy for its own partisan purposes. Whatever this government says in Ukraine regarding democracy, its actions in Canada express something quite different. Mervyn Russell, Oakville Recognized for Excellence by Ontario Community Newspapers Association Canadian Community Newspapers Association Proud Official Media Sponsor For: The Oakville Beaver welcomes letters from its readers. Letters will be edited for clarity, length, legal considerations and grammar. In order to be published all letters must contain the name, address and phone number of the author. Letters should be addressed to: The Editor, Oakville Beaver, 5040 Mainway, Burlington ON L7L 7G5 or via e-mail to; ablackburn@oakvillebeaver.com. The Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter. The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suite 206, Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M7. Phone 416-340-1981. Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of a typographical error, that portion of advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline.