THUNDER BAY - After being put on hold for more than a year due to the pandemic, the Thunder Bay Regional Food Distribution Association is once again holding its annual food drive to not only help meet a growing demand for food banks, but to raise awareness that access to food is a year-round need.
“We didn’t have one last year and this event for us is about more than just collecting the food and the monetary donations, which are very important on their own, but it’s also about getting hunger on the minds of people in the community,” said Brendan Carlin, community service manager with the RFDA. “It’s a need all year round.”
The Harvest for Hunger food drive will be taking place this Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 10 grocery stores across the city.
Lists of the most needed items will be available to people interested in donating and Metro stores will have prepackaged food bags that can be purchased and donated.
“Our normal food drives in the years before the pandemic, we usually get 12 to 15 tonnes of food and $15,000 to $20,000 in cash donations,” Carlin said.
“We have no idea what it will be like this year. We don’t know if people are even carrying cash. We will have a credit card option this time, so we are hoping that will add some donations. We are hoping we can get similar amounts to before. But if we don’t that’s okay as well because it’s also about getting awareness out to people at this time of year.”
According to Carlin, the demand for food banks is as high as it ever was, and while government funding during the COVID-19 pandemic helped keep food on people’s tables, funding is winding down and the RFDA is looking for community support to help those in need.
“What we were finding leading into the pandemic, and it’s been exacerbated I think, is that those who are hungry are needing it more,” Carlin said.
“And there are people who have been laid off throughout the last couple of years, so there is a higher demand. So we are trying to give more food less often. But there are more people who need it more often because of their level of poverty or difficulties they are facing through COVID because there are so many tough choices to make.”
The pandemic also revealed a lack of supports in northern communities when it comes to access to food. Last September, the federal government invested more than $400,000 to assist organizations throughout Northern Ontario secure access to food.
Volker Kromm, executive director of the RFDA, said organizations will continue to find ways fill in that gap for northern communities, including the RFDA, Feed Ontario, and Food Banks Canada.
The Harvest for Hunger Food Drive will be taking place at all three Metro locations, Superstore, Wholesale Club, both No Frills locations, Skafs, Westfort Foods, and Walmart on Memorial Avenue. Donations can be made between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday and between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Saturday.
Donations are also accepted at the RFDA location on 570 South Syndicate Avenue or online at www.foodbanksnorthwest.ca.