Community Services

Annual Food Drives

Metrobus/VOCM Cares Thanksgiving Food Drive

The VOCM Cares Foundation strongly supports the work of the Community Food Sharing Association. Each year several food drives are held throughout the greater St. John’s Metro Area. Donated food items are then distributed by the Community Food Sharing Association to local food banks throughout the province.

Since 1990, VOCM Cares has been holding a Thanksgiving Food Drive in partnership with Metrobus and Sobey’s in the greater metro area. Food bin receptacles are placed on all Metrobuses as well as at each Sobey’s location. This food drive takes place 10-12 days leading up to the Thanksgiving weekend. This year over 40 thousand ponds of food was donated to the Community Food Sharing Association through this effort. The single largest donation came from the students of Leary's Brook Junior High.

Canada Post/VOCM Cares Food Drive

Canada Post has been holding a food drive in support of the Community Food Sharing Association for more than a decade. Each year, the VOCM Cares Foundation prints over 55,000 flyers that are then circulated by postal carriers to homes in the metro area. A particular date is designated as donation day. The public then leave bags of food hanging from their doorknob or postal box for the carriers to collect. Last year, 50,000 pounds of food was collected for the Community Food Sharing Association through this effort.

Scotiobank/VOCM Cares Food Drive

Since 2004, a Christmas food drive has been done with an air carrier and Scotiabank as the major sponsors. The airline donates a trip as a prize for food donors. Each Scotiabank in the greater metro area participates by collecting food and distributing ballots to donors for the incentive prize. This food drive is conducted for approximately 3 weeks leading up to Christmas. The trip is drawn for on VOCM a few days before Christmas Eve. In 2006, with the assistance of the fly-away incentive from Provincial Airlines, 16,000 pounds of food was donated to the Community Food Sharing Association through this effort.

From time to time, the VOCM Cares Foundation is approached by other groups to assist in a food drive. In recent years, pop singer Hilary Duff came to town for a concert at the Mile One Stadium. Her management presented a fundraising idea to the VOCM Cares Foundation. Ms. Duff is known as a “food raiser” verses a “fund raiser” and she was interested in doing a food drive in St. John’s. As an incentive to give, tickets to a “Meet and Greet” session with Ms. Duff was awarded to a lucky winner. This effort generated 8000 pounds of food for the Community Food Sharing Association.

Happy Tree

The Avalon Mall/VOCM Happy Tree is celebrating over 40 years of helping the community at Christmas time. The Salvation Army and the Avalon Mall partner with the VOCM Cares Foundation to collect and distribute toys for needy children aged infant to 18 years. A “Happy” Tree is set up at centre court in the Avalon Mall for approximately one month leading up to Christmas. Mall shoppers can leave their gifts (unwrapped preferably) in a large collection bin located next to the tree.

“Happy” has become quite popular with the children and in most recent years, a local volunteer steps inside the ‘happy tree’ and speaks to the children at different times throughout the day.

Many local groups and businesses also hold toy drives and/or cash donations for the Happy Tree. These items are picked up by a VOCM Cares staff member and delivered to the Salvation Army for sorting and packaging.

VOCM Happy Tree Concert

The VOCM Cares Foundation also hosts two local concerts at the St. John’s Arts and Culture Centre in support of the Happy Tree. All proceeds from the concerts are used to purchase gifts that may have not been donated through other means. All cash donations are used to the same purpose. This years concerts are scheduled for December 13th and 14th, 2010. Tickets will be available at the Arts and Culture Centre Box Office in November 2010.

In 2009, 1381 children in the greater St. John’s metro area received a gift package (containing 7-8 toys) through this project, and therefore did not experience an ‘empty stocking’ on Christmas morning.

Happy Tree projects are also done in areas outside the capital city. In these cases, staff members of the local radio stations – CHCM Marystown, CKCM Grand falls Windsor, CKVO Clarenville, and CHVO Carbonear, play a huge role in the successful coordination of the Happy Tree Project for that particular area.

Coats for Kids

The SUBWAY/VOCM Cares Coats for Kids Campaign is an annual event carried out in partnership with the Canadian Red Cross and Memorial University's School of Social Work. In 2007, another partnership was formed with the Royal Canadian Legion, Branch #1 in St. John's. They now provide the space for the Coats for Kids depot distribution centre.

*We are excited to announce the addition of Subway as title sponsor of the Coats for Kids Campaign. This sponsorship will allow further expansion of the campaign in areas outside of the metro area. Subway is also offereing a Subway Party to the school that collects the most winter itmes for the depot.

Metrobus is also supporting the campaign this year by providing the opportunity for a travelling depot that will allow us to fill a bus with winter tiems and visit areas of this city that may have families and children that do not have access to the free depot. Families can come on board the bus and take what they need free of charge.

Coats are collected through donations, primarily in conjunction with local schools and businesses. When collections are complete, a retail-type store is set up at a central location where needy families can come in and pick out coats and other winter clothing for their children. Families are provided this service at no cost to them.

For a number of years Newfoundland Power has taken a special interest in this project and has partnered by allowing the VOCM Cares Foundation to place an insert in their monthly residential billing advertising the Coats for Kids Project. This extra promotion has certainly brought more awareness to the program. In recent years, they extended their support a step further by coordinating the collection and distribution of coats from their depots stretching from Carbonear to Corner Brook. In 2007, this program collected and distributed over 8000 coats and jackets province-wide to children from St. John's to Nain.

Thank you to Subway, Memorial University's School of Social Work, Canadain Red Cross, Metrobus, Newfoundland Power province wide, the Royal Canadain Legion Branch No.1, all of our dropsites and of course our volunteers. The success of this campaign would not be possible without the combined efforts of everyone involved.