As the Guelph Food Bank is gearing up for their weekend #feedthechange event, shelves for many of the staple items usually stocked in their Crimea Street headquarters are empty or running low.
The non-profit organization is holding their first ever #feedthechange event Saturday in conjunction with their final garage sale and silent auction fundraiser of the summer, said Pauline Cripps of the Guelph Food Bank.
“We do them throughout the summer and this is our final end off where people can fill a box for $5 or $10,” said Cripps of the garage sale.
Saturday’s #feedthechang event at their 100 Crimea Street location will add live entertainment, a BBQ lunch, interactive photo booth, a scavenger hunt for kids and more to the garage sale event.
“There’s going to be a lot going on that day,” said Cripps.
The Ontario Association of Food Banks has earmarked September as Hunger Action Month and Food Banks Canada has named Sept. 18-22 as Hunger Awareness Week.
The #feedthechang event is intended to happen in conjunction with those observances, said Cripps.
As volunteers were busy filling boxes with food items Tuesday as part of the organization’s hamper program, shelves holding those items were becoming bare in some areas.
Canned goods are always needed, said Cripps.
“Some of our big lists are canned mixed vegetables, canned yellow vegetables and canned green vegetables. Miscellaneous condensed soups, like mushroom, chicken noodle, tomato soup. Basically canned soup. In general,” she said.
Canned protein, like chicken and salmon, were also in short supply, as were items like canned beans and fruit snacks often used for school lunches.
Food that expires or spoils before it can be used is set aside and not distributed to those who use the service, though the food bank has found other uses for those items.
“If we can’t put it out quickly enough we have a farmer that will pick it up. She feeds it to animals. It’s not getting wasted or going to a landfill or anything,” said Cripps.
Cripps said the organization directly services between 85 and 110 families a day.
“We are a food bank first and foremost, but we also distribute to a number of agencies in Guelph. We have about 10 agencies with 22 locations in total,” she said.
The need for the service has been steadily growing. One segment of the population, what Cripps calls ‘the working poor’ have been coming through the organization’s doors.
According to the organization, in 2015 the Guelph Food Bank assisted 26,896 individuals. Last year that number spiked to 35,160.
“Guelph has one of the lowest unemployment rates in all of Canada and yet we still have a lot of people come in that are working. Yes they are working, but they are working a part time job. Maybe they have one, two or even three part time jobs and it still isn’t enough to pay rent,” said Cripps.
Other items needed by the food bank are diapers — especially in larger sizes, as well as hygiene and feminine hygiene items.
The Guelph Food Bank is supported by individual and corporate donations, as well as with the help of schools and other organizations.
“We are not government or United Way funded, so everything is completely supported by the community,” said Cripps.
