City employees drive hard
Annual food drive collects more than $10,000 worth
of much needed groceries for Salvation Army and Yk Food Bank
Cody Punter
Northern News Services
Published Friday, December 13, 2013
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The City of Yellowknife has donated more than $10,000 worth of food to charity as part of its annual employee food drive last Friday.
The drive is organized as a friendly interdepartmental competition, with city employees divided into 10 teams.
This year's competition was won by city council and administrative staff's joint team, 'You're canned.'
"It's good for the city and it's a way to help out," said Coun. Niels Konge, who was helping sort boxes that Friday afternoon.
The city's food drive, now in its third year, has been growing incrementally ever since it started.
"I suspect we're not always going to grow because there's only so much people can give," said Kerry Penney, manager of legal services and team leader for 'You're Canned.'
Rather than having teams try and accumulate the most food based on weight, teams are given points, with more awarded for items deemed more necessary.
"It's a combination of what's needed and the cost," said Penney. "For example, powdered milk costs a lot more and it's in high demand, so it's worth more points."
One team also decided to raise money instead of donating food, and was able to collect $900. All proceeds from the drive were split evenly between the Yk Food Bank and the Salvation Army's food bank.
Grant Pryznyk, president of the YK Food Bank, said the competition has become a valuable source of food for the organization.
"The enthusiasm the city employees have for this is amazing," he said.
"It seems like they have more and more fun with it every year, seeing who can be top dog in their departments."
Lucy Spencer, who works for the city's corporate services department, came up with the idea for the competition several years ago. She said she is proud of how far the competition has come since it was founded.
"All jokes aside, it's fun, but it just goes to show just how much people care about the community."
