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Feed our food banks

The need to feed food banks was made more evident by this week's release of the HungerCount survey.

It shows in this tough economic time a 17.6% jump in the number of Canadians relying on food hampers.

It also showed meals provided by soup kitchens, school breakfast programs and drop-in centres are up 39% from two years ago.

Nearly 800,000 people visited food banks this past March -- 120,000 more than a year earlier. That's the largest one-year jump on record, and 72,000 of the clients were first-timers.

And it gets worse. Feeding these people is growing more difficult. One-third of the 670 food banks across Canada have reported problems keeping up with demand or having to turn people away.

While Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation District 22 Niagara has recently donated $10,000 to six food banks in the region -- an admirable gesture -- it's easy to see that money won't go too far.

It is critical that communitywide food drives, such as the ones earlier this month in Welland and Port Colborne, and one in Pelham on Nov. 28 are supported. They generate tonnes of food each year, but soon after the holidays supplies of staples will be running low once again.

It was sad to hear that of the families Community Care West Niagara serves, a whopping 64 live without hydro. One family living this way is had to accept. Sixty-four is staggering. And that's just in less-populated west Niagara.

For some families, including those with two incomes, a decision must be made to pay bills or buy food.

Most recently, a report prepared by the Ontario Association of Food Banks, In the Midst of the Storm: The Impact of the Economic Downturn for Ontario's Food Banks in 2009, released last month, shows Ontario's food banks are under pressure due to growing unemployment, continually increasing food prices and rising demand. They have been forced to purchase more food, and in some cases ration the available supply of donations.

Meanwhile demand for nutritious breakfast programs, such as the one at Empire public school, not only needs more food to feed more students, they need more volunteers to ensure children don't go hungry.

We can do our part by volunteering ans picking up a few extra items at the grocery store each week and setting them aside for such agencies as Open Arms Mission, Pelham Cares and the Port Colborne Inter-Church Food Bank.

It may seem like just another kind gesture, but added together these gestures can make a world of difference for many people.

Welland Tribune
Greg Furminger
Nov. 19, 2009