'Times are a little tough right now': Fill the bus event back in Chatham-Kent

Fill the Bus Chatham-Kent Buses will be parked in front of grocery stores in Chatham. CTV Windsor’s Chris Campbell explains why.

The “Fill the Bus” event in Chatham-Kent is back for a third consecutive year.

Nine school buses will be parked in front of every grocery store in the City of Chatham, Ont. and several other stores in nearby neighbouring towns.

“The times are a little tough right now,” says co-organizer Tim Haskell. “High rent, high food prices, everything has gone up. So we're just trying to make it a little easier on our families that are in need of some help.”

Haskell explained all food donations will go to Chatham-Kent’s “Outreach for Hunger” to help provide school lunches. The Chatham Goodfellows, Helping Hands and FreeHelpCK are organizing the event.

“It's a beautiful thing for us to be able to give back to our community and make sure that these kids and their families are taken care of,” Haskell says.

Haskell says the need from the food bank has doubled in just the last month alone and the demand for back-to-school snacks and other non-perishable food items continues to climb, telling CTV News Windsor, “I think it's a little crazy, but it's a sign of the times with everything that's gone up in the world.”

FreeHelpCK has already collected 500 backpacks, but they still need to be filled with back-to-school supplies.

“Whatever we can get into the bus, we’ll take,” Haskell explains. “We want to see that bus completely full!”

Donations will be accepted in Chatham, Wallaceburg, Tilbury, and Dresden on Aug. 20 from 8:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m.

In Chatham, participating locations include Food Basics, No Frills, Giant Tiger, Sobeys and Real Canadian Superstore.

Wallaceburg’s No Frills, Dresden’s Foodland and the No Frills and Foodland in Tilbury are also taking part.