The Welland Food Drive has been an annual autumn staple in the city of Welland for decades, starting with its humble beginnings in 1992.

The first Welland Food Drive was held in March 1992. It was organized by Gerry Berkhout who was with the Welland Chamber of Commerce.

Several community members and organizations joined in on the planning. The city was divided into “routes” for drivers and volunteers to pick up donated food on the food drive day. The first drop-off centre was at Faith Tabernacle on South Pelham Rd.

For the next food drive, Club Richelieu took on the role of organizer, along with numerous community members. The drop-off centre was initially at the former Union Carbide. After that, and to this day, Club Richelieu has generously donated their facility, volunteers as well as financial help to ensure the success and the viability of the Food Drive.

We have many organizations, churches, families and individuals who volunteer their time and resources every year for both food collection and sorting. It is through this unified approach that we are able to have successful food drives every year.

As with everyone, the pandemic years presented renewed challenges and led to the online donation alternative/possibility as door-to-door collection was no longer an option.

Since then, we have adopted a hybrid approach, allowing those who wish to donate online to do so, while returning to our much-loved one-day food drive in November.

We are all very grateful to our community for rallying together each year.

Today, the modern iteration of the Welland Food Drive is managed by a team of dedicated committee members who are responsible for promoting, facilitating and growing the Welland Food Drive to try and match an increasing need in our city.


While the food contributions will always be the backbone of the drive, we are now happy to offer the option for supporters of the drive to donate monetarily online.

The Welland Food Drive has partnered with The Hope Centre to issue tax receipts for online donations. Upon completing your online donation you will receive an email with your tax receipt attached.

The Hope Centre will also process donations by cheque or you can come to The Hope Centre to donate by cash or debit.

While we look to grow and evolve in the coming years, one thing will always be true: the support of you the citizens as well as our amazing volunteers is what allows the Welland Food Drive to continue being a success year in and year out.