upper room to receive donated purolator truck to help distribute food across p.e.i.
2 minute read
mike macdonald, executive director of the upper room hospitality ministry and p.e.i. food banks, says purolator's donation of a truck will allow the upper room to deliver food to other food banks across p.e.i. and pick up donations more efficiently.
the guardian
/
file
the upper room hospitality ministry in charlottetown is set to receive a donated truck from purolator that will help improve food distribution across prince edward island.
executive director mike macdonald said the organization does not yet know exactly when the truck will arrive, but hopes it will be delivered in the near future.
“we’re quite excited to receive this donation that will certainly impact our ability to move food across the province,” macdonald said.
the larger truck will allow the upper room to deliver food to other food banks across p.e.i. and pick up donations more efficiently.
macdonald said the organization already has vehicles, but nothing as large as the donated truck.
“we were looking at how do we better distribute food across the province,” he said. “this opportunity came up just over a month ago and really sped up what we were hoping to do.”
the truck will mainly transport non-perishable food items, including cereal, canned goods, pasta and other packaged foods. it will make multiple stops at food banks around the province and will also be used to collect donations in the charlottetown area.
macdonald said the donation comes at a time when demand for food bank services remains high.
across p.e.i., the upper room and the provincial food bank network serve more than 5,100 people each month.
improved efficiency
macdonald said the new truck will help the organization expand its support for other food banks while making deliveries and pickups more efficient.
“we’re certainly excited knowing that we’re trying to expand our services to the other food banks, and this is definitely a way that we can do that,” he said.
stephanie iacobelli, purolator’s manager of community investment, said the donation is part of the company’s purolator tackle hunger program, which has supported food banks across canada for 23 years through food and financial donations.
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she said food banks have increasingly told the company that transportation has become one of their biggest challenges.
purolator decided to respond by using its expertise in transportation and logistics.
“as we look to electrify a lot more of our vehicles, it’s giving us an opportunity to retire some of our other trucks,” iacobelli said.
purolator created its retired fleet donation program this year and invited food banks across canada to apply.
the upper room was selected based on its need for a larger vehicle and its plan to use the truck to collect and distribute food.
“they had a really clear need for this truck and how it can better serve its community,” iacobelli said
she said the retired trucks are still roadworthy and could have up to 10 years of use left.
she added that the upper room is working on the registration, licensing and transfer of ownership for the vehicle.
once that process is complete, iacobelli said the truck should be ready to go on the road within the next few weeks.
“we’re really eager to see how they’re better able to serve their community once it’s in motion,” she said.
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vivian ulinwa is a reporter for the guardian in prince edward island. she can be reached at vulinwa@postmedia.com and followed on x @vivian_ulinwa.
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