The Okotoks Food Bank has received a helping hand.

Home Depot held a food drive throughout February that brought in almost 500 lbs of donations.

The Okotoks Outriders 4H Club did the same and raised 1,585 lbs of items along with cash donations.

Sheila Hughes, Executive Director of the Okotoks Food Bank, says donations are always hugely appreciated as the food bank continues to see an increase in users.

"Our Help Yourself shelves we're finding are getting the most use where this time last year maybe 60 to 90 families came in a month to use our shelves and this last month in February we had 263 visits to those shelves," she says. "Anything we can get to supply those shelves especially things like protein really, really help."

Staff at the Okotoks Home Depot with their donations of food and care items to the food bank weighing in at 497 lbs. (Photo Courtesy: Okotoks Food Bank Facebook page)

Hughes says the food bank also looks for everyday items outside of food.

"Right now things we'd really love to have donated would be items like shampoo and conditioner, razors, shaving cream and deodorant, laundry soap would be nice as well as garbage bags, kitchen items like paper towel, foil, saran wrap, Ziploc bags for school lunches, and toilet paper."

The food bank has also received tremendous support recently from Okotoks Hockeyville, Sobeys, and Cobs Bread.

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