A total of 26,220 mouse clicks brought the Eagle Valley Food Bank nearly $3,000 and second place in the Kraft Food for Families contest for the Pacific region.
The promotion took place in two parts. In the first, 50 cents was donated to the Eagle Valley Food Bank for every time a person clicked in a vote until a regional maximum of $20,000 was reached. This is how the community generated a total of $2,980.50 for the food bank. Following that, a $5,000 prize was available for the community that generated the largest number of votes overall.
In this, Sicamous, with a staggering 26,220 votes, placed behind Nanaimo.
“For a community of our size, per capita, to keep up with a community the size of Nanaimo, it was really a tremendous effort,” says Leanne Watson, with the Eagle Valley Resource Centre. “When we started, we had no clue we could even come anywhere close to 26,000 votes.”
Voters were only allowed to cast one ballot per day, so there were many fingers clicking on a regular basis.
“We know this was not just Sicamous, but that we had a lot of help from people in the outlying areas. We are just so very thankful for all the people who took their time, it means a lot,” adds Watson.
In total through the Kraft promotion, communities donated $100,000 to food banks across Canada.
“This will help the 100 participating food banks not only put food on the table for those in need, but will also help keep food bank trucks on the road and many other operational costs,” notes the Kraft website.
Decisions have not yet been made on how to use the donated money, but the Eagle Valley Food Bank has some goals in mind. They are hoping to set up a garden project, as well as refurbish their kitchen with new equipment.
“Every penny counts for us, so this is really great,” says Watson.