Ottawa Food Bank anticipating another surge in users in coming months

As pandemic government funding ends and the holiday season approaches, food banks across Canada are bracing for a surge in users in the coming months — and among those preparing for that increase is the Ottawa Food Bank.

A new report released by Food Banks Canada earlier this week, called the HungerCounts 2021 report, says Canada’s food banks are anticipating the highest increase in users since the 2008 recession.

According to the report, visits to food banks across the country increased by 20 per cent during the pandemic, topping 1.3-million visitors in March 2021 — the largest demand since 2008.

On top of that, one in four food banks experienced a 50 per cent increase in demand, with Ontario-based food banks reporting an average increase of 23 per cent.

“With the CRB ending last week, we are anticipating a surge in visits in November and December,” Ottawa Food Bank’s CEO Rachael Wilson told CityNews Ottawa on Friday, October 29. “It is difficult for us to predict what the numbers will look like but we have seen an increase of 17 per cent since over the summer months. In March of 2021, the Ottawa Food Bank network saw 44,000 visits compared to 39,000 in March 2019 (the last pre-pandemic number).”

And it’s not only the CRB forcing folks to use the Ottawa Food Bank, it’s a perfect storm of many factors that include rising food costs; rising gas prices and other bills; the high cost of living in Ottawa; and the lack of access to affordable house and lack of full-time work.

While Wilson does say that the food bank typically sees an increase in demand in the winter months and the holiday season, he still predicts the increase this winter will be higher than in previous years because of all the above factors.

“We also know that many people may not have turned to a food bank during the pandemic but instead maxed out credit cards, spent down savings, and incurred debt in order to make ends meet. Those individuals and families may now need the support of a food bank as they rebuild.”

The Ottawa Food Bank relies heavily on donations from the community, Wilson adds, as it typically gets about two per cent of its overall funding from the local government. The rest is raised completely through community donations.

“Our spending on food has gone up by 15 per cent compared to this time last year and we imagine that that trend will continue. If people wish to support the Ottawa Food Bank and the network of 112 agencies, they can either pick up extra food items or buy one of the pre-made bags at one of our grocery store partners and put it into the red cages located at front of most grocery stores.”

And for those who can afford to can make a cash donation can do so online at www.OttawaFoodBank.ca.

For every dollar the food bank gets, Wilson says they can turn it into about $5 worth of delivered food to the community.

“Cash donations allow us to buy the most needed items and, most importantly, those fresh nutritious items that are so costly and difficult to donate such as milk, eggs, meat, vegetables and fruit. Every little bit helps and we're incredibly grateful.”

For those wishing to volunteer their time, Wilson says they can go to the Ottawa Food Bank’s website to register as a volunteer and pick the shift that works best for them.

The food bank’s number of volunteers, however, are still reduced in order to maintain COVID safety protocols but Wilson hopes to be adding some evening and weekend shifts to help the volunteers keep the food going out to the community quickly.