An integral part of the community in Notre Dame de Grace, the NDG Food Depot gathered an army of volunteers Saturday to collect donations for its annual food drive.

The group has long served the less fortunate in tough times, but with a floundering economy, the need is greater than ever.

"We have quite a big territory and we're giving out food to about 700 people a week," said director Fiona Keats.

To better serve the need, the depot distributed 22,000 paper grocery bags to homes in NDG and Westmount last week - 10,000 more than last year.

The initiative seemed to have paid off.

"This is the first year that I had to unload the car in the middle of my route," said volunteer Jack Domeradzki.

The Odem family chipped in, because, they said, they wanted to give back to a borough that has given so much to them.

"The community is such a great place for (our kids) to grow up and we wanted to do something to give back, and also to get to know people in our community," said Buffy Paznokaitis-Odem.

Keats said the depot aims not only to deliver food to the hungry but also addresses the systemic issues surrounding poverty, and teaches those less fortunate to create inexpensive, healthy recipes.

Still, it relies heavily on the generosity of the community, and hopes the giving spirit isn't restricted to one day a year.

"(I hope) that everybody would just think of this all year long," she said.