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Edmonton’s Food Bank is hoping hungry patrons attending this weekend’s heritage festival are not only generous with their portions but donations as well.

The three-day annual Edmonton Heritage Festival, which starts on Saturday at Hawrelak Park, is the largest fundraising event of the summer for the city’s food bank.

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Food Bank executive director Marjorie Bencz said donations from the holiday season have run dry with only a few candy canes left.

A few smaller food drives are held throughout the year to help keep non-perishable food items on the shelves but Bencz said at the moment they are relying on buying items themselves during the summer months.

“We’re running on empty as far as non-perishable food items,” she said on Thursday. “We’re hoping people will come to the heritage festival, bring non-perishable food items when they come.”

The goal is to raise 50,000 kilograms worth of food, which is expected to help carry the charitable organization until the end of September.