Hamilton food banks expect 'busiest December we have ever seen'

Food banks in Hamilton have seen an overwhelming increase in demand this year, and are expecting a busy December.

Food banks began in Canada as a temporary solution. Now James VanderBerg, executive director of the Welcome Inn Community Centre, says demand in Hamilton has seen "mind-boggling growth."

"Hands down it will be the busiest December we have ever seen. There's no question of that," VanderBerg told CBC Hamilton.

He said in the last two years, the food bank saw a 28.5 per cent increase in demand, and 28.7 per cent of those accessing this year are doing so for the first time.

"During the first year of the pandemic, 14,951 visits were made to our food bank. In 2021-22, that number climbed to an astounding 19,216 visits," he said.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the organization saw around 11,000 visits per year. 

"It's not quite double, but it's remarkably close to doubling the amount of usage that's happening right now in this food bank system."

Welcome Inn is not alone.

Neighbour to Neighbour, Good Shepherd, Niwasa Kendaaswin Teg and Food4Kids have all reported increases in demand. 

• Robyn Knickle, director of development at Neighbour to Neighbour she's "already started to see" an increase in demand for December. She said since March of 2022, there has been a 15 per cent increase in food bank visits, or 150 more families each month.

• Brother Richard MacPhee, Good Shepherd's chief executive officer, said since September, there has been a 20 per cent increase in the number of new households monthly.

• Food bank manager at Niwasa Kendaaswin Teg, Alysha Johnson, said the organization has served 3,563 unique individuals since January. "We saw a sharp demand for need at the beginning of the pandemic and that need has not subsided, only increased," Johnson said.

• Food4Kids's school liaison Nancy Phelan said although their program runs very differently from a food bank, they have also seen a steady increase and have a wait list in place.

Joanne Santucci, chief executive officer of Hamilton Food Share, said this increase is affecting those who were already struggling. 

"There's 38 per cent of the people who normally come once to a food bank are now coming twice. That tells us that inflation is having a dramatic impact on these households who are already struggling to put food on the table." 

A survey by Hamilton Food Share says Hamilton has the second highest food bank use per capita in Ontario.

In the survey, 46 per cent of respondents said they would be at risk of homelessness if it weren't for the food banks.

"It was just heart wrenching," said Santucci.

Seniors and immigrants among growing groups

Most food banks have seen an increase in seniors and newcomers accessing their services. 

At Welcome Inn, seniors accessing their services went from 10.7 per cent to 18.8 per cent.

"That was a surprise to us," said VanderBerg.

He added recent immigrants make 37 per cent of those using their food bank. 

"Arabic and Spanish are the second two most commonly spoken languages [at Welcome Inn]."

MacPhee said he has also seen an increase in immigrants at Good Shepherd.

He said they've seen more "people who have come from the Middle East, from Syria and Iraq, but also people from Congo and Cameroon."

Although he said he didn't have exact numbers yet, the increase in seniors is also noticeable.

"I also know that we're seeing a lot more seniors, even in our emergency shelter programs."

Knickle, from Neighbour to Neighbour, said they have also seen an increase in seniors. 

"If you're on a fixed income and the price of everything just keeps rising, the cost of groceries and gas and your rent … You just can't make that work."

Hamilton Food Share's survey said that over the past two years, visits made by seniors increased by 34 per cent. 

The survey also showed on average of 53 seniors will require food bank services daily.

Toiletries, oil, cultural foods are some of the most sought after

VanderBerg said toiletries are "always needed" at food banks and are items people usually don't think about.

"Proteins are [also] high on the list, and that would include especially halal proteins."

Knickle said cultural foods are also items people don't consider when donating.

"Other things that people don't think about are things like olive oil and pantry items or cooking items."

Santucci said, however, the best donation you could make is money. 

"For every dollar you donate, we can actually stretch it to $5 worth of food. People love that because they want a bigger bang for their buck, but I also recognize that people have to give them their own way."

Volunteer numbers not up to pre-pandemic standards

Welcome Inn, Neighbour to Neighbour and Good Shepherd all reported having a shortage in volunteers. 

"We ran our food bank with one paid staff and a team of 70 to 80 volunteers [pre-pandemic]," said VanderBerg. 

"A lot of our volunteers were also vulnerable community members who are accessing our programs and they were asked to stay home and stay safe."

He called the shortage part of "the perfect storm," and although volunteer numbers have not gone up to what they used to be, it's getting there. 

Good Shepherd saw the same issue during the pandemic.

"It's been slow coming back with COVID," said MacPhee. He added, however, that, "more and more people are starting to come back."