By Geoff Smith (@smithco on Twitter)

“Can Man Dan” to brave the elements this weekend

Dec 15, 2016 | 9:44 AM

LETHBRIDGE – As a kid Dan Johnstone and his family relied on their local food bank. That’s why as an adult he continues to give back.

Johnstone is once again camping out in the cold around Alberta to raise food and awareness for food banks. From Dec. 16-18 he’ll be braving the elements outside Fairview Plaza Safeway, collecting donations around the clock to go towards the Lethbridge Interfaith Food Bank.

“This is now my sixth year of doing it, and it keeps getting bigger and bigger every year, and it’s just exciting that the community lets me do this, and be Can Man Dan,” Johnstone said in an interview. With the economy the way it is, he adds it’s really needed now.

“People are struggling and you can tell that they’re struggling based on the output and the numbers that the food banks are providing the public,” he explained. “It’s scary in itself, and it’s sad, and especially when you realize that you know almost half the users are children, so they don’t even have a say in the matter.”

Johnstone will begin his campout at 9 a.m. Friday, Dec. 16, and he will collect donations around the clock until 6 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 18.

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“I’m not really much of a camper, so all I do is bring the blankets off my bed and the pillows and stuff. So I have nothing fancy. But last year the weather in Lethbridge was really good to me. So I don’t know what to expect there. I haven’t even checked the forecast. But I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a little chinook or something, or some sort of hot weather, I don’t know.”

Last year, Can Man Dan collected more than 50,000 lbs.of food and over $25,000 in cash at his campouts around Alberta.