By: Taylor O’Brien
Food banks and charities are looking for food and monetary donations to support those most in need this holiday season. But this year, inflated living costs are putting these organizations in a tight spot.
While demand for donated goods is higher, charitable organizations across the city are not seeing the same volume of donations as previous years.
“Our clients are often living on the edge,” said George Macdonald, president of the Barrhaven Food Cupboard. “They don’t have much money for all their expenses and with the cost of food going up the way it has, many of them are pushed to the point where they need additional help.”
He said the organization experienced a 45 per cent increase in the demand for food this year.
“We are not compromising on the quality or the quantity of the food we are providing, but we’re being challenged [in] getting the necessary food and cash donations to sustain the supply.”
Across the city, the Salvation Army Ottawa Booth Centre is also struggling to meet its clients’ needs.
“All donations have gone down,” said Marc Provost, executive director of the organization. “So we buy more, but that’s beyond what we have budgeted. And the demand is much higher.”
Alex Noreau is the interim communications manager for Ottawa Food Bank, which runs 112 community and emergency food banks across the city.
She said the organization is projected to spend $6 million on food this year. This is triple the amount they spent annually before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Noreau emphasized the importance of the signature holiday food drives to keep food banks supplied during their busiest time.
“It’s the generosity of our community members coming together to make those monetary donations or non perishable food donations that really ensure our shelves are stocked,” she said, adding these fundraising events are critical to keeping the shelves stocked through the winter.
Ultimately, food banks and shelters alike said that the importance of giving to food banks this holiday season could not be overstated.
Macdonald said it is important to recognize many community members in various economic situations are temporarily or permanently unemployed and have difficulties feeding their families.
Across the city, there are “new Canadians, single parent families, disabled people, elderly people, that really are struggling and have difficulty with finances these days,” Macdonald said.
“It’s important for all of us to recognize that and do what we can to help alleviate the problem.”
Noreau agreed donations and volunteered time are critical to helping food banks support low-income people in this city, while noting longer term solutions are needed to properly address food insecurity.
“More food is not the solution to solving food insecurity,” Noreau said. “It has to come from income-based solutions, affordable housing solutions and increased mental health support solutions to really make a difference in the lives of those affected by food insecurity.”
