Mississauga, Ontario – Kia Canada celebrated its first Drive Change Day on August 21, collecting over 13,000 non-perishable food items at its head office for the Daily Bread food bank. The day marked the first of this annual event, which promotes working together to make positive changes in communities across Canada.
The food items were amassed with the efforts of Kia Canada employees, business partners and national dealers. A total of 117 Drive Change events across Canada were entered through the Drive Change With Kia website and iPhone application, which were set up to encourage and inspire everyone to get involved.
Shaw Media personalities Anna Olson from the Food Network and Paul LaFrance from HGTV got involved on the day as well. Olson performed cooking demonstrations and collected fresh produce donations for the food bank at Toronto’s Evergreen Brick Works, while LaFrance participated in a picnic at the Rotary Park in Ajax, Ontario to encourage families, friends and neighbours to spend quality time together.
The initiatives included stuffing 30 school backpacks for children whose parents could not afford their supplies through the Owen Sound, Ontario local Kia dealer and United Way Grey Bruce; a “fill a Kia vehicle” with baby milk formula and cereals by Applewood Kia in Surrey, B.C.; and a proclamation by the mayor of Kamloops, B.C. that August 19 was “Kamloops Kia Community Cleanup Day” to support the dealership’s activities.
