St. Jacobs, ON, October 12, 2017 - Home Hardware Staff and their family members dug deep this year in support of the Woolwich Community Services food bank program. On Monday, garden volunteers attended the last harvest of the season at the Community Garden located on Henry St. across from the distribution centre. The fresh produce, along with dry goods collected by Home Staff were delivered to Woolwich Community Services on Tuesday with a cheque for $2,434.25 from a variety of fundraising initiatives.

"I am incredibly proud of our Staff and the family members who attended the community garden this year to harvest fresh produce for the food bank at Woolwich Community Services," says Stew Gingrich, VP, Human Resources, Home Hardware Stores Limited. "Working with the Home team on this initiative was a pleasure and it is a true reflection of the culture and Staff who wanted to give back to our local community."

Home's community garden began to take shape toward the end of May and by June, volunteers began dropping off weekly donations of fresh produce to the food bank in Elmira, Ontario.
"Our food bank wouldn't be able to operate without these very generous donations," says Kelly Christie, Director of Community Support, Woolwich Community Services. "The fresh produce provided healthy snacks for the kids in our lunch program and many families looked for ways to preserve the vegetables so they could keep food on the table for months to come."

This is Home's second year harvesting produce fresh fruits and vegetables including beets, onions, potatoes, raspberries and rhubarb. The donations collected helped the Woolwich Community Services food bank send weekly hampers to 68 families in need.

"It was incredibly inspiring to see so many people come together to support local families in need," explains Julia Swijters, Community Garden Organizer, Home Hardware Stores Limited. "My heart is so full knowing that we've been able to help feed families and stock the fridges and freezers of those in need."

Home Hardware's Community Garden spans over one acre in size. This includes 36 family plots and 1/3 of the garden farmed for the Woolwich Community Services food bank. The food bank harvests in 2017 totalled over 3,000 pounds.