Edmonton's Food Bank's two new forklifts from Leavitt Machinery

Edmonton's Food Bank has welcomed two new forklifts from Leavitt Machinery after a March community fundraiser that raised CAD25,000 (USD20,000) in just five days.

"At the food bank, we're always in need of food, funds and friends. We have our volunteers and our great food donors but behind the scenes, of course, we have trucking and warehousing and power equipment needs, so this really helps us getting the logistics behind the scene happening," Marjorie Bencz, executive director of Edmonton's Food Bank, told local media.

Back in December, Food Bank staff realised that one of their two older forklifts was unrepairable and that they couldn't even get parts for it.

So they held a fundraiser in March to buy two new forklifts - and raised the funds in just five days.

The forklifts are very important to the inner workings of the food bank. They are being used at the main facility for lifting and moving the food that feeds more than 21,000 people every month.

In addition to supplying the machines, Leavitt Machinery will provide ongoing servicing of the machinery.

"Today was a great day! We were able to finally give Edmonton's Food Bank our donation of $30,000 and deliver two community-purchased, brand-new Hyundai forklifts to use in their warehouse," Leavitt Machinery says in a social media post.

"Leavitt Machinery is proud to sponsor such a worthwhile cause within the Edmonton community," says John Mutis, executive vice-president of Leavitt Machinery. "When we received the request, we knew we needed to step up to support an organisation that does so much for those in need, and those who experience hard times, especially during our current economic landscape. We know the equipment provided will serve this great organisation's efforts for many years to come."