The results are in for Winnipeg Harvest's 15th annual Operation Donation Campaign.

The week long food drive, which involved 56 schools from across the province, tipped the scales, beating last years grand total.

This year the kids managed to raise 29,043.50 lbs. (13,202 kg) themselves, MPI (Manitoba Public Insurance) collected another 21,968.90lbs. (9986 kg). Those two totals were combined and matched by Canada Safeway and Peak of the Market, bringing the grand total to 153,037.20 lbs. (69,562 kg). That's 40,000lbs more than last year.

David Northcott, executive director of Winnipeg Harvest said, “this program makes a difference in the lives of the families we feed each month. With 60,229 people that receive food and nearly 45% children, we have our work cut out for us. Operation Donation is a key staple to assisting us with this heavy task of feeding so many.”

Northcott said, “Operation Donation fills a gap at just the right time – after Christmas and before spring planting when food stocks are low. “It’s a great campaign for helping students think about the larger questions in life, such as, ‘Why don’t the poor have the right to eat the same kind of food as my family has on the table?”

Operation Donation is a great example of the positive impact of members of a school community working together. Students, teachers, other staff, parents, and other community members fighting for food security achieves two things: food and supplies for those who need it most, and a learning opportunity for those same community members to seek answers to why this work is necessary at all. Manitoba's teachers are proud to support both.

The week long food drive took place from March 3-7.