THUNDER BAY – Ontario Northland held an event on Saturday in the Superstore parking lot in support of the Thunder Bay Food Bank.
Stuff the Bus saw residents able to donate non-perishables directly to the food bank out front of the store. Donations were then loaded into the bus and later taken to the food bank.
The event was also held two years ago when 14-hundred pounds of food were donated. Organizers were hoping to exceed that total this time around.
Dawn Bubar, Food Bank Board Member, said events like these are becoming increasingly important as the need for their service continues to grow.
“This has a huge impact. In the last couple of years, we've seen our demand increase from about 1000 households per year. We are now serving some upwards of 125 households every two weeks.
“We're seeing an increase in demand by seniors, which is something we haven't seen before and obviously with people on fixed income as well."
Bubar said after talking to members of the food bank over the past few years and even other organizations that help out, it does seem like the need is just growing more and more.
“This is incredible. I mean, our community is amazing in terms of the donations, both from an individual perspective and our corporate perspective. Without them, we would not exist.
“We are 100% dependent on donations. We don't get funding from any other sources. Donations such as food and monetary are what allow us to continue to be able to meet the needs of the less fortunate in our community,” she said.
Bubar said It also allows to try to enrich their diets a little bit.
“As we all know, the cost of food has risen so dramatically, buying healthy food is even more expensive. This allows us to put a little bit of healthy foods into their famlies as well.
On their website, there is a link that allows you to donate monetary donations, but it also tells you the types of foods that you can donate, where you can drop them off or how you can contact the food bank so they can pick them up as well if you're not able to bring them.
The best way to get connected, if you are in need is to call 211 and register with 211, Bubar said.
“The sole purpose of registering with 211 is they will inform you of where the food banks are located in the city to allow you to pick the one that is closest to you. Otherwise on our website, there's a link to the page that tells you how to access food banks.”
Bubar gave a big thanks out to the community, the individuals and the corporations that continually support them.
“I think everybody understands how difficult it is to buy food these days,” she said.
Kate Bodett, senior communications manager at Ontario Northland, said an employee had the idea to hold this event again.
“He said ‘it's been a couple of years since we've been here.’ I understand that the need is still very prominent here in Thunder Bay.”
The support today has been incredible, Bodett said.
“I can't underscore that enough, right from being here at the Superstore, there was no hesitation. The store owner was happy to support, allow us to set up our bus on the curb and our tent and collect donations.
“People have been extraordinarily generous, it's really inspiring to be a part of, to be perfectly honest, anything from small donations to cash donations, people have really been supportive.”
Bodett said the event held two years ago had a similar response to the event today, being incredibly busy.
“Ontario Northland serves the province Northeastern Ontario, as well as Northwestern Ontario. Our employees live in the communities that we serve. It was really important today to take action when one of our employees indicated that they wanted to take part in this activity.
“We are always so happy to continue to serve the communities that we serve with our transportation services. “
The Thunder Bay Food Bank is always looking for more support. There is more information on their website.
