$113K raised for The Food Bank of Waterloo Region through CBC K-W's annual Sounds of the Season campaign

More than $113,000 was raised for The Food Bank of Waterloo Region in CBC Kitchener-Waterloo's annual Sounds of the Season campaign.

That is enough to provide food for more than 339,000 meals for people in the community.

The campaign, which runs throughout the month of December, highlights issues of food insecurity and encourages people to donate to local food banks.

The fundraising total of $113,069.90 included:

• A $100,000 donation by Waterloo software company OpenText.
• A $1,703.15 donation by Best4All Collaborative, a group of lawyers who challenge each other and other businesses to donate to the campaign.
• $11,366.75 was donated by listeners, readers and members of the community.

Wendi Campbell, the food bank's CEO, said financial donations in particular have been crucial during the pandemic so they can adapt to changing needs in the community.

"It has been a tumultuous year at the food bank," Campbell said last month, noting people seeking food hampers rose by 40 per cent and a 22 per cent increase in the number of people seeking emergency food services.

She said it's all because of a "perfect storm of high housing costs, pandemic job losses, rising food costs."

Need for food banks growing: Report

A report from the organization Feed Ontario in November showed nearly 600,000 people made more than 3.6 million visits to food banks in Ontario between April 1, 2020 and March 31, 2021.

Siu Mee Cheng the group's interim executive director, called the numbers in the report "extremely alarming."

The number of those who needed basic food support increased by 10 per cent during that period year compared to the year before. It was the highest single-year rise since 2009, the report said.

Campbell said she expects to see need grow as more people struggle through the pandemic.

The stories

This year, the Sounds of the Season campaign highlighted a number of stories in the community focused on food insecurity.

It included reporter Paula Duhatschek touring rural food banks in the community, how a small table grew to a full food "Distro" to serve students at Martin Luther University College in Waterloo and CBC K-W's The Morning Edition host Craig Norris went out to see how the food bank's mobile pantry helps people access fresh food.

It also told the stories of people who were making a difference including the local Sikh community's many food drives throughout the year, schools and organizations holding drives for various charities and Brandon Lukach, a Cambridge truck driver, who raised money using the video-sharing app TikTok to take his food bank shopping.

Campbell said the campaign is an important one because it brings people together, but also helps people understand the need in the community.

"We are grateful that in these uncertain times, the community continued to donate to Sounds of the Season in support of the food bank," Campbell said. "Your support will ensure people won't have to choose between having a roof over their head and food on the table."