Winnipeg Harvest's Jets playoff food drive like 'holiday time in May,' director says

Winnipeg Harvest is hoping Jets fans can help fill empty shelvesas well as the streetsduring Thursday's downtown whiteout street party.

The food bank, which is facing a critical food shortage, is encouraging Winnipeg Jets fans tohelp feedManitobansin need by bringing non-perishable food donations to the street party for Game 4 of the team's playoff series against the Nashville Predators.

Keren Taylor-Hughes, executive director of Winnipeg Harvest, said she's hoping to get up to 25,000 pounds or roughly 11,000 kilograms of donated food at the event, which is more than double what the bank bargains for in astandard food drive at aJets game.

"I'm telling everyone around here it's like holiday time in May," Taylor-Hughes said.

The food bank will also collect donations at the Manitoba Moose homeplayoff against the Rockford IceHogson Saturday afternoon, and the whiteout viewing party at Bell MTSPlace on Saturday at 8:30 p.m., when the Jets will face the Predators in Nashville.

If the bank collects as much as Taylor-Hughes thinks it can, she said shelves will be well-stocked heading into the warmer months.

"I would imagine that by the time we get through the whole Jets playoff series and we've collected all of our things . I think we will be in a very good spot for summer, which is traditionally our driest periodhere," she said.

The top food staples the bank 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 food bank is sending a volunteer crew of 30 people to each event. If you want to donate, you can find bins at each entrance to the street party on Thursday and at all four entrances to Bell MTS Place on Saturday.

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

Donations have already picked up since the food bank put out its plea on Monday, Taylor-Hughes said.

"True to Winnipeg's winning spirit, we at Winnipeg Harvest are absolutely thrilled at the outpouring of support," she said.

• More on the Jets NHL playoff run