Food banks in Waterloo region, Guelph seek more cash to meet record-setting demand
'The safety net is starting to unravel. Many of our food banks are struggling to keep up': Feed Ontario CEO
The Food Bank of Waterloo Region saw more than 25,000 people in need of food assistance in October — yet another new record for the local agency.
Food bank CEO Kim Wilhelm told regional councillors about the grim milestone during a delegation last Wednesday in which she asked council to approve $2.1 million for the agency in its 2025 budget.
"One year ago, I stood at this podium and shared that we were seeing the highest need in food assistance history in 40 years of food banking here in Waterloo region. At that time, one in 10 households were accessing food assistance. Today, it's one in eight. Just three years ago, it was one in 20," Wilhelm told council.
In one year, Wilhelm says the food bank has seen a "staggering" increase of 26 per cent of people needing support, from 58,000 individuals last year to 73,000 this year.
"Our community continues to face increased challenges around the high cost of living, job insecurity, high housing costs and other economic pressures. This upward trend indicates a worsening food insecurity situation over the next year," she said.
"The number of individuals visiting eight times or more has also increased by 17 per cent since last year, indicating that the food bank is increasingly seen as a necessary resource rather than just a temporary solution in an individual's life."
WATCH | 'We're not temporary anymore': The Food Bank of Waterloo Region marks 40 years with new report:
Guelph food bank asks city for help for 1st time
In Guelph, the food bank went to city council for the first time in its history to request funding in the 2025 budget, the food bank's managing director Carolyn McLeod-McCarthy said. The Guelph Food Bank is seeing more than 4,000 people each month, a record high for the organization which opened in 1989.
"We've never had to ask for it before, but the need has more than doubled in two years," she said in an interview on CBC K-W's The Morning Edition.
To better serve people, the food bank is looking to decentralize, so people can get the food they need closer to their homes rather than travelling to the food bank's location on Crimea Street.
"There are higher needs neighbourhoods and we've identified that through postal codes, the needs of people coming to our location," she said, adding they will need the help of local organizations to make it work.
"We would need three to four locations in central Guelph alone just to accommodate those people in need for food access closer to where they live," McLeod-McCarthy said.
'The safety net is starting to unravel'
The food banks in Waterloo region and Guelph are not alone in facing increased pressure. The Hunger Report released on Monday by Feed Ontario shows record-high food bank use over the past year.
More than one million people accessed food banks between April 1, 2023 and March 31, 2024, an increase of 25 per cent over the previous reporting year. It's also the eighth consecutive year food banks have seen a growth in the number of people accessing their services, Feed Ontario's CEO Carolyn Stewart said.
But Stewart says food banks are starting to see donors become clients and their resources are dwindling.
"The safety net is starting to unravel. Many of our food banks are struggling to keep up with demand and make sure that they have sufficient resources to be able to meet that demand in their community," Stewart said in an interview.
She pointed to ballooning prices and an affordability crisis that has led many people to turn to food banks in their communities across the province. It means many food banks are handing out food as quickly as donations come in.
"We're very concerned about what this is going to mean in the coming months as we know numbers are going to continue to grow unless something is done," Stewart said.
The Hunger Report advocates for an increase in social assistance rates and for federal and provincial levels of government to take real action on the housing crisis.
"Housing is a key driver of food insecurity," she said, adding people also need to be able to find work if they can work. "We want to make sure that people are getting sufficient income to be able to afford their most basic necessities."
Throughout the month of December, Make The Season Kind is a CBC campaign that raises food and funds for local food banks.
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