Food and Toy Drive

Celebrating 25 Years of Food and Toy Drives

1998
First food and toy drive for the Parksville Volunteer Fire Department was held to help stock the Salvation Army’s shelves for Christmas. In the inaugural year, 5,000 pounds of food collected.

1999
9,200 pounds of food collected by Parksville Volunteer fire Department.

2000
12,182 pounds of food collected with the bulk of the donations used for Christmas hampers at the SOS and the remaining              contributions used in the food bank and soup kitchen.

2001
26,000 pounds of food collected by Parksville, Qualicum Beach and Dashwood Volunteer Fire Departments.

2002
11,000 pounds of food collected by PVFD.

2003
10,000 pounds of food collected by PFR.

2004
10,500 pounds of food collected by PVFD. The Salvation Army was able to provide 600 Christmas hampers helping over 1,400 men, women and children in the community.

2005
9,500 pounds of food collected by PFR.

2006
10,000 pounds of food collected by PFR.

2007
16,860 pounds of food collected by PVFD, a significant increase in donations and the best year to date. The Salvation Army donated breakfast for volunteers collecting donations door to door; now a tradition.

2008
17,229 pounds of food collected by PVFD. Arrowsmith Search & Rescue joined the event.

2009
23,000 pounds of food collected by PFR and a new record.

2010
no records

2011
18,300 pounds collected by PVFD.

2012
21,080 pounds collected by PVFD. This was the first year Craig Bay Residents Association did their own collection as part of the drive, collecting over 3,000 pounds of food.

2013
25,500 pounds of food collected by PVFD with significant cash donations of $4,500.

2014
23,300 pounds of food collected by PFR and cash donations increased to $ 5,000.

2015
Record year with 27,000 pounds of food and cash donations of $10,525. The cash donations go a long way to stocking shelves at the Salvation Army food bank. Quality Foods has been a huge supporter of the food drive since its inception doubled the value of the cash in-store when the food bank purchases food at their stores with the donated cash.

2016
22,000 pounds of food collected and $12,000 in cash.

2017
By far the most successful food and toy drive in PVFD history with 38,870 pounds of food and $21,000 in cash. The efforts over the past three years to get stratas and apartments involved proved to be instrumental to the increasing success.

2018
26,720 pounds of food and $27,217 cash collected by firefighters, honorary members and volunteers door to door with the single largest donation from the Craig Bay Residents Association, contributing 2,600 pounds of food and $15,000 in cash.

2019
Volunteer members with help from families and friends, collected 29,500 pounds of food and $34,073 cash. Largest donation came from Craig Bay Residents Association, $20,559 in cash and 2,300 pounds of food. Volunteer time over the two days totalled 2,528 person hours.

2020
Due to the pandemic, physically distanced and masked firefighters from six departments raised 1,084 pounds of food and an incredible $93,051 in cash for the Salvation Army foodbank. Participating fire departments were Coombs Hilliers, Dashwood, Deep Bay, Errington, Parksville, and Qualicum Beach.

2021
Physically distanced and masked firefighters at locations throughout Parksville asked residents to fill the boots for food, collecting $93,464 cash along with new unwrapped toys for the Society of Organized Services. Craig Bay residents donated $58,635 and 3,676 pounds of food.

2022
Fill the Boots for Food drive at locations in Parksville collected $85,353 in cash for the Salvation Army food bank along with new unwrapped toys for the Society of Organized Services. Craig Bay residents stepped up again donating $55,355 in cash and 2,692 pounds of food.

2023
A total of $94,090.70 in cash for the Salvation Army food bank was collected along with new unwrapped toys for the Society of Organized Services. Craig Bay residents were beyond generous, donating a record $64,680 in cash.