More than 400 volunteers braved the cold to canvas Montreal West, and NDG to collect food and money as the Depot Community Food Centre held its annual Fund and Food Drive.
In spite of Quebec's booming economy and record low unemployment, many Quebecers are still living below the poverty line.
Depot Community Food Centre Executive Director Daniel Rotman said, "you would think of NDG - from the outside - as kind of an affluent neighborhood, but one out of four people in NDG live below the poverty line. Including one out of three children who live in a household below the poverty line."
"Many people are going door-to-door in -15 weather," he said. "It’s a wonderful community event, an event for the community by the community."
Volunteers canvassed several neighborhoods, gathering monetary and food donations to help the needy.
The donations collected will go towards supplying the depot's community programs, such as the distribution of 16,000 emergency food baskets.
“We’ve moved a lot towards asking for monetary donations as opposed to food because we’re much more efficient with money. For every dollar we receive in donations, we can buy three dollars’ worth of food," said Rotman.
Mission Montreal also held its annual Christmas Harvest, over 200 volunteers showed up to make 20,000 food baskets for those in need.
With files from CTV Montreal.