Manitoba farmers donate 144,000 eggs to food banks

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This article was published 21/11/2022 (764 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BRANDON — A Holland-area poultry farmer is among the producers who helped Manitoba Egg Farmers break the record for most eggs donated to Harvest Manitoba in a single month.

“We’re really pleased to be able to help those in need,” said Rick Lee, who is also an MEF board member. “We’re farmers, we produce food, and to be able to help those in need with a healthy, nutritious food is a great thing.”

In October, the Winnipeg-based network of food banks received 12,000 dozen eggs from farmers and community sponsors. The donation broke the record for the most eggs donated to Harvest Manitoba in one month.

Last month, the food bank also reported its the highest number of users.

Harvest Manitoba supplies food to nearly 90,000 Manitobans each month, almost half of which are children, the non-profit said. The need for food aid across the province has reached an all-time high this year due to inflation.

It takes a province to feed a province, said Vince Barletta, president and chief executive officer of Harvest Manitoba, in a news release.

“In this extraordinary year, where Harvest helped more Manitobans than ever before, we are extremely grateful for the ‘eggstraordinary’ support of our egg farmers in helping us feed families across our province,” Barletta said.

Manitoba Egg Farmers has donated eggs to the cause since the COVID-19 pandemic took hold in 2020. Lee and other producers with the organization have given two pallets of eggs per month to Harvest Manitoba, which amounts to around 7,000 eggs.

MEF chairwoman Catherine Kroeker-Klassen said the organization is proud of its contributions, and hopes it will make a difference for families.

“We were able to visit Harvest in October, and help pack eggs into cartons to give directly to families. Seeing the direct result of our donations… was incredibly humbling and rewarding.”

— Brandon Sun