OTTAWA - The third annual Food Aid Day will have a special twist this year, as it is tied in to the 60th anniversary of the first 580 CFRA broadcast.
Food Aid Day will be held Thursday, May 3 at the Canada Agriculture Museum at the Central Experimental Farm and will once again feature a barbecue, a radiothon, agricultural displays, live entertainment and fun family activities.
"It’s going to be a great effort," Ottawa Food Bank executive director Peter Tilley said. "We think it will be a great campaign to tie in with CFRA’s anniversary. They’ve always had rural roots, and we think this ties in nicely."
Food Aid got a good headstart when a very successful Luck of the Irish Spring Fling March10 that raised approximately $7,500.
"It was a really good party," Wyatt McWilliams of Navan, who first came up with the idea of holding a concert to raise money and awareness for farmers stricken by BSE that eventually blossomed into Food Aid Day, said. "Everyone who went there had a good time, and we made a fair amount of awareness."
McWilliams says CFRA’s agricultural roots make their anniversary a good combination with Food Aid, which is being held on the actual date of the first CFRA broadcast.
Some special events are being planned to celebrate the anniversary.
Instead of the usual tractor display, they will have a special antique display with tractors that are 60 years old.
The radiothon, which will be broadcast from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., will also feature special appearances by some of the people who put CFRA on the air 60 years ago and by popular CFRA figures, including original general manager Terry Kielty and broadcaster Ken "The General" Grant.
"There will be a lot of reminiscing as far as CFRA goes, but we’ll still do as much agricultural awareness as we can," McWilliams said. "It’s not just Food Aid this year."
The barbecue will likely take place from 11:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. Enbridge Gas and the District A4 Lions Clubs are back on board to help with the barbecue, and The Works restaurant has donated additional hamburgers.
This year, the live entertainment, which will likely include a return visit by Wayne Rostad, will run from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m.
In the evening, there will be a CFRA anniversary party at the Chateau Laurier, with all proceeds going to Food Aid.
Tilley is excited for this year’s Food Aid Day.
"We’re just so happy we’re doing it," he said. "We’re one of the few food banks in North America, if not the only one, doing this, and we’re happy to be doing it again. It’s really nice when you see the difference we’re making in people’s lives, all because a local farmer had a vision."
Food Aid organizers hope to raise enough money to buy four or five cattle a week to send the beef into the community to provide families who use the Food Bank with ground beef.
Tilley says to do that, they need to raise about $150,000.
Tilley says the "CFRA Nation" has been a big supporter of the Food Bank for a long time, and he hopes they will continue to support this worthy cause.
"We’re basically dependent on CFRA listeners to come through and do their bit for us," he said. "They always have in the past. We’re certainly confident they will."
Every dollar donated to Food Aid is used to buy and process beef from Ottawa-area farmers and give that beef to hungry families.
"Thanks to Food Aid, we’re able to not only support local farmers and the local economy, we also support local processors and then turn around and send ground beef to families," Tilley said.
Since it started in May 2005,it has enabled the Food Bank to purchase 459 cows.
"It’s been a big benefit to the Food Bank," McWilliams said. "It really hits home how they (the social service agencies that administer the food) appreciate the program, and it’s really a unique program. We were hoping this would take off in other places, but it’s the Ottawa Valley spirit that keeps it going."
From the Archives:
News, April 2007
