Guelph-Humber Students Scare Away Canadian Hunger at Trick or Eat Event
Instead of going trick-or-treating this Halloween, student volunteers at the University of Guelph-Humber want people to think about Trick-or-Eating.
Trick or Eat is a youth-led event put on by an organization called Meal Exchange. According to the Meal Exchange website, the issue of food insecurity is on the rise in Canada.
Guelph-Humber participants will go door to door on Halloween and collect non-perishable food items instead of candy. All of the food collected will be donated to the North York Harvest Food Bank.
Student services coordinator and Trick or Eat organizer Jessica Pilfold said that she wants to outnumber the 20 volunteers that helped out last year.
“I want to cover more ground by having more students come out this year. If we increase the number of volunteers then we can knock on more doors and collect more food,” Pilfold said.
Peter Wixson, Vaughan Food Bank executive director, has worked with Trick or Eat for the past three years. He said that events such as Trick or Eat bring in food items that cannot be found at other food banks.
“A gentleman who is near to my heart was shocked when he found baby food for his new born last year. It was because of Trick or Eat that we had access to baby food,” Wixson said.
Reverend Mark Stacey from Christ Church Woodbridge said that he volunteers at the Vaughan Food Bank three times a week. He said that donations from events such as Trick or Eat benefit food bank shoppers because it adds variety to their shopping cart.
“It truly is a blessing to witness the relief on so many faces when they leave the food bank,” Rev. Stacey said.
Leslie Venturino, North York Harvest Food Bank development associate, said the North York Harvest Food Bank acts as the main hub. The food items that are donated for the campaign will be packaged and sent to food banks throughout northern Toronto.
“The event is fantastic! There have been so many people greatly affected by such an amazing cause. I’m just starting to get out to all of the schools to thank them in person for all of their endeavours,” Venturino said.
Venturino will be at Humber North campus on Oct. 17, 2016 at 10:10 a.m. to tell students about the Trick or Eat event and the North York Harvest Food Bank.
The Trick or Eat event starts at 5:30 p.m. on Halloween in GH225. There will be prizes awarded to the Trick or Eater with the best costume as well as a complimentary pizza dinner. Then volunteers will take a bus to different neighbourhoods to start Trick-or-Eating.
If students are interested in volunteering their time to a great cause, contact Jessica Pilfold at jessica.pilfold@guelphhumber.ca.
About the Author
Julia Colavecchia is a journalist who loves entertaining people and following the latest celebrity gossip. She hopes to one day be the host of Entertainment Tonight.
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