Toronto’s Daily Bread Food Bank is handing out the equivalent of five tractor trailers of food a day.
The food bank said their clients include not just people on social assistance or working minimum wage or part-time jobs, but also those with better salaries who see most of their take-home pay go to rent or other rising expenses.
“Fifty tonnes of food are going out every day to Toronto,” CEO Neil Hetherington said. “It is a dire situation for a lot of people. And the people who are coming to the food bank now are not just individuals on fixed incomes but rather people across the cubicle from you.”
The people usually served by the Daily Bread Food Bank are often the first kicked out of the economy and the last to be brought back, but inflation is also driving the increase in demand, he said.
Individuals are also having to repay debts that they took on during the pandemic, Hetherington said.
Thanksgiving usually serves as the kick off for the season of giving, he said.
People who want to help can donate food or money or, if unable to make a contribution now, can bequeath a portion of their estate through initiatives such as willpower.ca, he said.
“Our donations have come down since the height of the pandemic, both food and funds,” Hetherington said. “And so we’re hopeful that people will consider using tools like Will Power to be able to say how can we make transfers of wealth to organizations that are doing fundamentally good things.”
Anyone can also advocate for changes that help address the causes of hunger, he said.
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