Kingston kicks off Give 30 with most ambitious goal yet

By Christena Lawrie, CFRC's Broadcast Journalist & Local Journalism Initiative Reporter.

Monday was officially the beginning of Give 30 2024, and Kingston is aiming to surpass last year’s record high.

Give 30 is an initiative to encourage community members to support food banks during the month of Ramadan. The initiative supports 17 major food banks and anti-poverty organizations across Canada, which together serve hundreds of thousands of people. 

“Ramadan is a month of self-discipline, of doing things that would bring you closer to God. So we increase our worship, we increase our charity, we increase our prayers and reading Quran and things like that. One of the side effects of fasting during the day is that you feel hunger and thirst, and hopefully that will allow us to empathize with those that are dealing with hunger and thirst on a regular basis. You know, we get to eat at sunset. They may not have the means of doing that.” explains Mona Rahman, Give 30 Kingston team member. “Let's translate what we're feeling, and in the spirit of Ramadan, help those who are within our community by helping the food bank.”

Kingston’s campaign supports the Partners in Mission Food Bank; a record 1 in 19 people received a food hamper last year from this food bank.

In 2023, Kingstonians smashed their previous record of $16,000, raising around $25,000 through the campaign. This year, Kingston’s chapter of Give 30 is determined to keep the momentum going and surpass last year’s record.

While Ramadan extends from March 11 to April 9, 2024, the campaign launched yesterday on March 4, and will be running until June 10.