Those at Portage la Prairie's food bank are grateful, leading up to the Thanksgiving weekend. Salvation Army Major Brenda Coles says they saw great success with their annual harvest sale over the past weekend, which sees local farmers providing vegetables to the sale, with all proceeds going back to the Salvation Army for their food bank. She says they managed to raise about $2,000, which will help keep their shelves stocked for about a month.

"It really helps a lot. What it does is keeps the cupboards full. You get donations from the community, but when you get a bigger boost like that it helps keep the cupboards more substantially full."

With the harvest sale behind her, Coles is now gearing up for another major food drive. Farm Credit Canada's Drive Away Hunger Campaign's making a stop at the Portage BDO offices on Tuesday, collecting donations of food and money for the Salvation Army.

Coles notes these recent fundraisers and drives come at an important time. While they're already gearing up for the Christmas hamper campaign, she notes the number of people accessing the food bank often increases during the fall, noting it can be a difficult time for families.

"The beginning of the school year, and all of the things around that make it tough for families who are from a lower income. We have seen it very busy in the month of September. August and September it's actually very busy. We're not exactly sure of the whole story why, but we know some of it is expenses with the start of school."

Coles thanks all of those who supported the harvest sale, as well as those who are consistently thinking of the food bank. She notes everyone's support has made a difference, as their cupboards began to look rather bare at the end of August.