It’s more important than ever to leave some food in the food bank bin at your grocery store, every time you shop. Or to heed the call during fundraising time.
The South Porcupine Food Bank is right up there with the national trend of more demand for its services. Director Andrew Persad says it’s gone form 212 clients per month in 2020, to 345 last year.
“We ran a deficit of approximately $22,000,” Persad notes. “That came out of GICs and savings that we had set aside for that kind of rainy day.”
Persad adds that the projected increase this year is another 20% to 40%. He remarks that another side rarely recognized is the toll it takes on food bank volunteers.
“It’s strictly volunteers at the South Porcupine Food Bank. There’s no paid positions,” he states. “Probably over 50% of those folks are seniors. They’re above the age of 60.”
The toll comes mostly from the physical work of stocking the shelves and other chores. Persad hopes more young volunteers step up.