GRAVENHURST, ON – A teenager is swimming in a Muskoka lake to raise money for a local food bank.
Samuel Wood is from Orangeville but his family owns a cottage on Muldrew Lake in Gravenhurst. The competitive swimmer has been coming up each summer for the past six years.
Wood joined the Will Swim for Food campaign and plans to do five kilometres a day from August 18th to the 24th. All the money raised will go to Manna Food Bank in Bracebridge and another one back home.
He joins 11 other swimmers to try and raise $10,000 and 1,000 lbs of food as a team. Last year Wood and his teammate Ryan Hann swam 35 km in one week, raising over $4,000 and 300 lbs of food.
The original goal for the team was $5,000 and 500 lbs of food, but the team has already surpassed that.
“I’m very excited to be a part of the Will Swim For Food campaign this summer and help out the Food Bank in my home town,” Wood said in a release. “I’m lucky to get to spend a lot of my summer up in Gravenhurst. Since this community gives me so much enjoyment I want to give back and support the Manna Food Bank.”
Wood will be doing most of his daily swims in Gravenhurst and asked his cottage neighbours to join and support the local food bank.
The Manna Food Bank helps clients from Bracebridge, Gravenhurst and surrounding areas. Their website can be found here: http://mannafoodbank.ca
Anyone looking to donate can email willswimforfoodryanhann@gmail.