GT8 * ToRoNTo srAR * wBDNESDAy. JUNE 16. 2oro GREATER TORONTO Rice, peanut butter and . . . tamarind sauce? 'Flavours from home' drive calls for creativity in food bank donations VANESSA LU STAFF REPORTER Flance wins the World Cup. WelI, sort of. The World Cup di- verse food drive, that is, organized by employees at the Bank of Mon- treal's Manulife Centre building. MarkAdler and Marie Cosentinq who co-chair the diversity council of the personal and commercial banking division, c€une up with the idea to link interest in the soccer tournament with a food drive for the North York Harvest Food Bank Each floor adopted a country competing in the World Cup and urged staff to contribute beyond the traditional staples like white rice, pasta and peanut butter. 'TV'e wanted to raise awareness of the need - and new immigrants make up a huge number of people who use the Norttr York food banlg' said Mler. '?eanut butter and jam and macaroni and cheese aren't comfort food for them." Called Flavours from Home, the idea is an initiative of five Diverse City fellows who are committed to finding ways to improve life. Ttre idea started with Andreas Berriq one of the fellowg who relied on food banla when he first immigrat- ed to Toronto from Colombia. Though he had spent several years TARA WATTON/TORONTO STI Marie Cosentino and Mark Adler, who organized a food bank drive at the Bank of Montreal, encouraged donations to appeal to different palates. in the United States, he never devel- bank But that got him and his team opedatasteforpeanutbutter. thinkingabouttheneedtobroaden He eventually collected 2O jars, therangeoffooddonations. which he donated back to the food *Ifs about taking what you and your family would eat. If all of us think that way, we're so diverse here that the stuff in the hamPers will change," saidAneil Gokhale, one of thefellows. The bank employees are a com- petitive bunch, and France - ttte eighth floor - came out on toP, donating 973 items out of 3,768 in all during the three-week drive. The collection now fills 18 giant bins that will be delivered to the food bank Wednesday. It includes the usual cans of chicken noodle soup and bags of pasta but also basmati rice, falafel mB JaPanese soba noodles, Thai curry and tama- rind sauce. 'TV'e all knowhowimportant food is to or.u cultural identity. If you receive a hamper with a food that you recognize and like, it will leave a pos itive feeling-' said Anette Chaw- 14 executive director of the North York Harvest Food Bank A Star series on building a better city together