Image Credit: Olsen Imaging/via Kamloops Food Bank

By Victor Kaisar

Record-Breaking Food Drive

Kamloops Food Bank reports record-breaking fall food drive amid ban on commercial flyer delivery

Sep 20, 2025 | 3:46 PM

KAMLOOPS — The Kamloops Food Bank is reporting a record-breaking fall food drive this year, saying the community banded together after it was forced to draw up new plans on the fly because of ongoing job action at Canada Post.

In a news release, the organization said a little over 75,000 pounds of food was donated by Kamloopsians during the 35th biannual food drive Saturday (Sept. 20), breaking the old record of 70,000 pounds collected during the spring food drive in 2020.

“I can hardly put into words what the last seven days have been like at the Kamloops Food Bank,” Bernadette Siracky, President and CEO of the Kamloops Food Bank, said in a statement.

“We’ve always known this city stands behind us, but what we witnessed this week was extraordinary.”

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On Tuesday (Sept. 16), Siracky told CFJC Today that the fall food drive was expected to be business as usual. However, just one day earlier, the food bank was still fine-tuning its plans to ensure that the food drive paper bags would reach people’s houses in time.

The Kamloops Food Bank asked for help after the Canadian Union of Postal Workers implemented a ban on delivering commercial flyers on Monday (Sept. 15). That’s when the paper bags – which are considered as flyers – were set to be delivered by postal workers.

“When we suddenly had to deliver 33,000 bags to homes across Kamloops, our staff, board, volunteers and Rotarians worked tirelessly to make it happen,” Siracky added. “And our community responded with the largest food drive donation in our history.”

According to the Kamloops Food Bank, the 75,000 pounds of food that was donated Saturday is valued at $271,500. It previously noted that the fall food drive brings in about 50,000 pounds of food on average.

“All three Rotarian clubs began picking up bags this morning at 9 a.m. and the pace didn’t slow down until 1 p.m.,” the Kamloops Food Bank said, in a statement. “[We are] eagerly looking forward to enriching their clients’ lives with this new surplus of food.”