Two Vancouver Island baseball teams vowed to kick off 2021 the right away; and boy, did they accomplish that.. and then some!
The long-established Victoria HarbourCats and newly minted Nanaimo NightOwls baseball teams – who both play in the West Coast League – joined forces on New Years Day in a food drive that yielded some fantastic results.
Food drives held in both cities netted a combined $2,654.00 in cash donations and 3,178 lbs. of donated food, which at current Food Bank Canada guidelines, at a value of $2.62 per lb., translates into a total food value of $8,326.36
“What we witnessed — is impossible to describe,” said Jim Swanson Managing Partner and GM of both the Nanaimo NightOwls and Victoria HarbourCats baseball teams.
In Victoria, food and cash donations went to The Mustard Seed, while in Nanaimo, it was given to Loaves and Fishes.
Some HarbourCats fans, such as one generous supporter in Victoria, stopped by with 20 large bags of food.
Cash donations also came in from Mayfair Optometric Clinic, Odlum Brown, and Double-N Flooring, among others.
In Nanaimo, Sign Zone brought a cash donation while cars circled the ballpark parking lot in the pouring rain.
The goal was to fill up RVs provided by Arbutus RV, and it was all done so following current rules and guidelines in the interest of public health safety.
“People have all been impacted by this, but they want to help others, and our best use of time these days is to help our communities get through this — what we do best is bring people together, and our staff worked hard on this,” said Swanson.
