The London Food Bank's annual Thanksgiving food drive kicks off this weekend and for the first time in the organization's 34-year history, organizers are&nbsp;preparing for the possibility that donations could decline.

High inflation rates are driving&nbsp;up the cost of essentials and interest rates have increased, making it tougher for usual donors to give. At the same time, the food bank is seeing record demand for assistance.&nbsp;

20,000 Londoners can't afford food as need reaches 'record territory,' says London Food Bank

Demand for the London Food Bank has been driven up by an extraordinary rate this summer as a record number of families feel the pinch of inflation on their food budgets.

A volunteer at the London Food Bank loads up a shopping cart full of hampers for families in need. The charity has seen a record-setting summer in terms of demand and with inflation pinching family budgets all over the city, donations will likely suffer too. 

London Food Bank

A London Food Bank volunteer stuffs a shopping cart filled with grocery bags for the charity's clients. More people in the city have come to rely on the food bank's pantry than ever before this summer as inflation squeezes household spending citywide. 

"It's a new middle-class kind of poverty," said&nbsp;co-director Glen Pearson. "I think&nbsp;it's because all of a sudden, after COVID, everything just seemed to go through the roof. Rents, gas prices, interest rates, food, prices."

The food bank is helping approximately 20,000 people each month through its pantry on Leathorne Street and through the city's frontline charities.

Pearson says he's seeing people who once donated now struggling. He remains hopeful this season's food drive will be fruitful but admits he's lowered his expectations.&nbsp;

"We'll see at the end of this food drive if that's what happens. If our totals go down, that's the way that it is. But we're trying to tell everybody that we understand if you don't have it, you can't give it," Pearson said.&nbsp;

Londoners have always been generous.&nbsp;During last year's Thanksgiving food drive, the community raised 71,225 lb of food, or&nbsp;32,375 kg, a number that combined food and cash donations.&nbsp;

This year's food drive runs until Monday, October 10th.

There is a 'sense of urgency' a the London Food Bank as they face record numbers of families accessing food, says co-executive director Glen Pearson.  

Thanksgiving food drive starts as need hits record high in London

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