The long-running Christmas Fund Broadcast on 560 CFOS won’t be hitting the airwaves this holiday season, but a new initiative is planned to help out the local food bank.
After 83 years, the Christmas Fund Broadcast has been discontinued due to the charitable foundation being closed out because of partnership changes. But Bayshore Broadcasting and 560 CFOS will be pivoting to a new 12-hour broadcast to help the community give back during the holiday season.
The first-ever 560 CFOS Community Food Drive in support of the Owen Sound Salvation Army Food bank will be happening on Friday, Dec. 1. Announcers will be at several grocery stores in Owen Sound from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. to help get the message out and bring in donations.
The Christmas Fund Broadcast started in the early 1940s as a way to provide much needed food bank relief for families who were struggling at home. The new food drive will attempt to recapture that original spirit.
“We believe it might be a real good thing to replace the legacy of the Christmas Fund Broadcast with a new fundraiser that gets back to the roots of the original, which is a food drive,” says Bayshore Broadcasting Manager Director Kevin Brown. “The timing is good. The cause is real. I’ve heard stats where 60 per cent more Canadians this month are expected to use food banks this year.”
A report from Food Banks Canada released last month found that food bank usage across the country rose to its highest level this year since the organization started surveying food security groups in 1989. The HungerCount report tracked food bank usage in Canada in the month of March, and found nearly two million people used food banks in March 2023.
You can support the 560 CFOS Community Food Drive by making food or cash donations to the Salvation Army at one of the five grocery store locations — Zehrs, Metro, Food Basics, Foodland and No Frills — in Owen Sound on Dec. 1.