It was the Salvation Army's first year at the Guy Weadick Day's Rodeo at the High River Ag grounds.

However, Lieutenant Chad Cole says it didn't go how he would have liked, but overall they've had a pretty good year.

Cole says, so far this year they've collected quite a bit of food.

"Over 7,000 pounds of food through our municipal food drive, however we anticipated a greater turnout at the rodeo."

Despite the poor showing at the rodeo, Cole say's the total amount of food they raised was greater than last years drive, where they managed to raise around 5,000 pounds.

However, this year a significant amount of food needed to be thrown out.

Cole says sometimes they're not getting the newest food from peoples larders.

"Sometimes people use our food drive as a clean out of their cupboard, so we've found things that have been outdated by three or four years."

Cole estimates the Salvation Army will need to discard around 500 pounds of food due to people donating expired or perishable products.

He'd also like to remind people wishing to donate that the Salvation Army accepts non-food items as well.

"Toiletries, baby diapers of various sizes, toothpaste and deodorants, we are not just a food bank, we try to help out with all the needs in a household."

Cole says the Salvation Army intends to return and collect food for next years Guy Weadick Day's.

 

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