Jets fans step up to help stock shelves at Winnipeg Harvest

Some generous Jets fans are helping to fill the cupboard at Winnipeg's biggest food bank at a time of increased need.

Winnipeg Harvest says they received around 1,200 kilograms of food and $3,200 in cash donations on Thursday night, as the Jets took on the Nashville Predators at Winnipeg's Bell MTS Place.

Fans at the game, and at the whiteout street party around the arena, were encouraged to bring donations for the food bank.

Harvest director of community engagement Janelle Duerksen saidthey often see food donations drop off in the spring.

"We're still seeing people coming through our doors and unfortunately that means that we just need to be able to stretch the food farther," she said.

Duerksen said the amount of food collected filled an entire truck and volunteers were still sorting through it Friday afternoon.

The top food staples Winnipeg Harvest is looking for are:

• Protein, like canned stew, canned beans, canned fish and peanut butter.
• Carbohydrates, like pasta, rice, instant potatoes, and macaroni and cheese mix.
• Canned soup.
• Canned fruit and vegetables.

The Harvest donation bin will be back during the Manitoba Moose playoff game against the Rockford IceHogs at Bell MTSPlace Friday night, and for Monday's Jets home game against the Predators.

The food bank servesabout 64,000 individuals each month, 42 per cent of whom are children. Last year, it distributed 13.2 million pounds nearly six million kilogramsof food throughout the province.

Winnipeg Police Service said close to 15,000 people attended the whiteout street party on Thursday, when the Predators downed the Jets 2-1 to tie their second-round series at two games each.

The Winnipeg Jets play the Predators in Nashville on Saturday night.

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