This year, the Northern Strands Group of Companies (NSGC) has partnered with Rock 102’s Stuff The Bus to donate non-perishables to the Saskatoon food bank before Easter. Donations for the event will be collected from March 4th to 27th in our showroom at 802 60th St E. On March 27th Stuff The Bus will take place at the co-op on 8th Street, we will be loading a Saskatoon City Transit bus with donations from 6 am – 6 pm.
NSGC’s goal is to collect enough spaghetti packages to reach the bottom of a Sask Potash mine shaft, which is around 3,600 feet deep. Each package of pasta donated is a foot towards our goal. The Saskatoon Food Bank & Learning Centre is a crucial resource in our community. “More than 10,000 Saskatoon families utilize the Saskatoon Food Bank & Learning Centre’s resources each month.” All non-perishable items are accepted, and we recommend checking out the Food Bank’s most-wanted poster to see what items are needed the most.
What is Stuff The Bus?
Rock 102’s Stuff The Bus is a community initiative to fill a city bus with non-perishables for the Saskatoon food bank and learning center. Stuff on the bus has been going on for more than 15 years and typically happens around Christmas. This year it’s been moved to March 27th because the food bank noticed they needed more supplies around the Easter holiday and already receive many generous donations over Christmas from other causes. The Foodbank has also noticed that there is an increase in demand when kids are home for school breaks, this event aims to prepare their shelves for Easter break. Over the years Stuff the Bus has raised over half a million pounds of food and nearly half a million dollars. NSGC is excited to be a part of this journey to feed our community.
Why did we choose 3,600 as our goal?
We chose 3,600 because the average potash mine shaft in Saskatchewan is 3,600 ft deep. Our companies (Northern Strands, Fortis Mining Manufacturing and Engineering, Certified Sales and Rentals) supply many products and services to these potash mines, including wire rope. Each package of spaghetti (or other pasta) represents one foot of progress towards reaching the bottom. Let’s work together to make this happen!
Why Spaghetti (pasta)?
We chose Spaghetti because it is in one of the food banks most wanted categories (Whole grain pasta.) With a little imagination the strands of spaghetti also look like the wire rope we supply to our local mine shafts. We will be counting all types of pasta towards the goal and donations of any kind are greatly appreciated.
How can you participate?
We will have a donation crate in our showroom at 802 60th St E until March 27th. If you’re in the area or shopping for some rigging, hoisting or towing supplies feel free to bring in your spaghetti, pasta, or any non-perishable you would like to donate. On March 27th we will be at the co-op on 8th Street to collect donations throughout the day to Stuff The Bus!