The Okotoks Food Bank received a helping hand from AM 1140 & Sun Country 99.7's sister station the Eagle 100.9 and local grocery stores.

Each week of the seven week long Feeding the Foothills fundraiser a list was created of the food bank's most needed items which were handed out at Safeway, Sobeys, and No Frills to help encourage shoppers to make a food item donation.

Sheila Hughes, executive director of the Okotoks Food Bank, says stores were kind enough to offer sales on some of the list items which made a difference.

"It was a big help, I think just giving people a heads up on what we need on a regular basis helps them and really makes a difference in what we have on our shelves," she says. "We make sure the food we're receiving is nutritious and they're items we can use right away for our families."

In total Feeding the Foothills raised 3,993.4 lbs of food and $1,412.35 in donations for the food bank.

Hughes says the monetary donations will help to increase the amount of food brought in.

"With the funds that we received we can almost triple that in our purchasing. It gives us the ability to purchase more fresh food and that really increases the nutrition value of the hampers our families receive."

She adds she's thankful for the support shown by the community and businesses who participated.

Weekly lists of the food bank's most needed items can be found by clicking here.