The need never goes down at the Guelph Food Bank.
The food bank is embarking on its annual Thanksgiving Food Drive as it tries to meet the needs of its clients.
The food bank currently services 65 to 80 families a day, said Pauline Cripps, the food bank's marketing and communications coordinator.
She said this time of year is particularly stressful on their resources for a couple of reasons: First, children returning to school leads to an increased demand for many items that many families struggle to afford. Second, the food bank's shelves are usually in need of restocking after the summer, when donations dip.
"One of the big things is people are back in school. There's a big increased cost, an added cost, we're getting into the peak seasons of Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays," Cripps said.
Historically donations are down in the summer.
"In general, the summer is our slowest period. We see our shelves bone dry towards the end of the summer," she said.
"By the time we get to this time of the year we're really trying to restock, so that's why we put such an emphasis on the Thanksgiving drive," Cripps said.
A surge of need and lapse in donations is not a good combination.
Last year the food bank assisted almost 27,000 individuals, distributing 1.2 million pounds of food.
High need items are peanut butter, canned tuna and salmon - things Cripps said are high in protein and can be made to last.
"Realistically it's a long-lasting protein that is beneficial to people's diets."
Rice, pasta and other things that "last" are also in demand.
Donating food, cash donations, organizing food drives and volunteering are just some of the ways people can help, Cripps said.
