As the cost of living continues to skyrocket, a growing number of residents are depending on local food banks to get by.
In May, as inflation rates hit their highest level in decades, grocery bills had increased by nearly 10 per cent over the previous year.
A recent survey by Food Banks Canada reported that roughly 7 million Canadians have gone hungry at least once between March 2020 and March 2022.
The Sharing Place Food Centre is seeing hundreds of additional visitors each month, including 70-90 monthly visitors who have never needed food bank assistance before, officials say.
The local organization's executive director, Chris Peacock, said the not-for-profit usually sees between 1,000-1,100 visitors per month, but they are now seeing upwards of 1,500 each month. Peacock expects that number to climb higher.
“Specifically, over the past six months, we've seen significant increases,” Peacock told OrilliaMatters. “We're seeing more people in our organization than we ever have, and it's directly tied to the cost of living.”
“We are in for a market recorrect … and all indication points towards our organization getting busier and busier over the next two years, so we're planning for that.”
The Sharing Place's fiscal year ended June 30; Peacock said The Sharing Place’s food expenses are forecasted to rise from $206,000 to $230,000 this year.
The not-for-profit has made significant moves to increase its reach within the community over the past several years, including a food rescue program that annually recovers up to 400,000 pounds of food from grocery stores and farmers, and a School Fuel program that brings healthy snacks to 21 area schools.
Peacock said that the organization’s success will rely on continued support from the community.
“As long as we continue to have support from our community, we can continue to support our community, and we're in a position where we need to have continued support,” he said.
“There's the increased demand for our services – we're handing more food out, we're supporting more individuals, and then there's the increased cost to our organization due to inflation,” he said. “The cost of transportation, utilities, you name it … our budgets have increased significantly, and we're in a position where we need more financial support to be able to continue to feed our individuals and strengthen our programs.”
The best way to contribute to the food bank is through direct financial support, Peacock said.
“We buy what we need when we need it: we can purchase at wholesale pricing; we can be very strategic; we can invest in trucks and invest in certain cooking equipment,” he said. “If you give us one dollar, we turn it into five dollars.
“The best way to support that is through monthly donations … whatever it is that you're able to afford,” he said. “That gives us that recurring revenue, where we can start to plan more strategically as an organization.”
With inflation the way it is, Peacock said people should feel no shame about coming into The Sharing Place if they find themselves struggling to get by.
“That's the one thing about poverty – it's blind. There are neighbours that you would not think accessing The Sharing Place’s services, and they have to because of the cost of living heading the way that it’s headed, and income has not followed suit,” he said.
“There's nothing to be ashamed of,” he said. “If you're hesitant, and you're just not sure, call us. We can talk you through the process of what it's going to be like … we'll walk you through what that experience is going to be like, get you more comfortable and make arrangements to ensure that you are feeling supported when you come in here.”
