By Dan Mitchell, MLM Blog Correspondent

From The London Free Press:

The eight-day London Cares curbside food drive handily exceeded its target for 2009.

The drive, which ended Friday, supplies the London Food Bank, which set a target of 75,000 pounds or 34,000 kilograms this year.

The generosity of Londoners produced 83,730 lbs., or 38,000 kg., putting a smile to food bank co-director Jane Roy’s face.

“It was amazing,” Roy said. “We were quite surprised and happy.”

She said there were concerns about the final two days of the drive and how rainy weather might reduce donations.

Thursday, in collection Zone A, was a record one-day haul, with 20,770 lbs. (9,440 kg.) collected from the Byron area.

Curbside collection and from grocery stores was up 4% from last year.

The London Cares drive is important because it stocks shelves at the food bank until Thanksgiving.

Roy said business at the food bank is up 20% this year.

Included in this year’s numbers was a donation of 5,000 lbs. (2,272 kg.) from corporate partner Amway Global.

In 2008, a record 99,000 lbs. (45,000 kg.) was created by an unprecedented donation of 23,000 lbs. (10,455 kg.) from Quixtar Canada.

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