Tuesday, January 13, 2004 - The Halifax Herald Limited

Helping the hungry
Telethon will raise funds for food banks
By Elissa Barnard / Arts Reporter

Hurricane Juan did more than topple trees.

It inspired Jack Bonaparte to raise money for the Metro Food Bank Society - Nova Scotia through FoodLink, an eight-hour musical telethon on EastLink TV, to raise $50,000 for food banks in P.E.I. and Nova Scotia.

The Stampeders join 15 Maritime musical acts including Terry Kelly, RyLee Madison, and Rant for the telethon, Sunday, Jan 25, 3 p.m. to 11 p.m., at Alderney Landing Theatre, Dartmouth, and broadcast live on Eastlink.

Bonaparte, who used to host telethons when he worked in Cape Breton, read that food bank stocks were low after Hurricane Juan.

He called the Metro Food Bank Society, and then EastLink TV. He had worked for EastLink's advertising department in Sydney.

Now Bonaparte works for Xerox Canada Ltd. in Dartmouth, and both Xerox and ScotiaBank are sponsors. "It got a lot bigger than I conceptualized," says Bonaparte.

The timing is midwinter, post-Christmas because "it's the time of year that the food banks hurt," says Bonaparte.

Every month 30,000 Nova Scotians line up at a food bank, Dianne Swinemar, executive director, Metro Food Bank Society - Nova Scotia, said at a news conference Monday.

The society, which receives no government funding, is the umbrella organization for food banks in Nova Scotia. Last year it distributed food worth $12.4 million to 125 member agencies. "This is not a metro project," said Dan McKeen, co-CEO of EastLink, which generated $650,000 last year for community groups. "It's raising awareness and food and money for food banks across Nova Scotia and the island (P.E.I.). "

Coincidentally, McKeen's father, Gordon, who is retired, became chairman of North Dartmouth Outreach Resource Centre, which runs a food bank, at the same time EastLink was considering FoodLink.

"He had been asking me, 'What have you guys been doing?' and I was able to say, 'Dad, we have a big project on the books.' "

Blues musician Charlie A'Court said he never thought about food banks until his younger brother had a school garden project, growing food that he delivered to the food bank in Truro.

This telethon "means a lot to musicians," he said. "A lot of musicians who start out don't have a lot to eat, that's for sure.

The event's website is: www.eastlinkfoodlink.com. Admission to the show at Alderney Landing is by donation.