Food banks across Chatham-Kent are seeing a steep rise in people using their services and say the numbers are pointing to even higher demand as the holiday season approaches.
With Thanksgiving almost here, Brenda LeClair, Executive Director of Chatham Outreach for Hunger, says they are gearing up for a busy weekend.
"Our numbers have been on the rise," said LeClair. "We're purchasing more food than we have in the past. We expect that is going to continue throughout the winter months."
On a typical day, about 35 to 45 families come through the door, but LeClair said the food bank is seeing up to 80 families in need of assistance some days.
"We're seeing many new families registering for the first time," said LeClair. "We're also seeing families who have accessed our services in the past, who were able to get themselves in a better position, but are now struggling again and needing to return to the food banks."
According to Nicole Shaw, Community and Family Service Manager for the Salvation Army Chatham-Kent Ministries, the rising cost of living is contributing to the challenges of affording food.
"The most noticeable are the new clients, which explains why food bank usage has increased steadily over the year," said Shaw.
The number of families that used the Salvation Army jumped from 105 to 233, compared to this time last month. The number of individuals served jumped from 233 to 273.
"People usually have to spend their money on bills every month to keep up which leaves little for food," said Shaw. "These are full-time working people or have circumstantial events that they did not expect."
Both Shaw and LeClair note they've been able to keep up because of staff, volunteers, and community donations.
On Tuesday, Outreach for Hunger purchased three skids of food and will receive another three more by the end of the week.
"We're using our cash donations and going out and purchasing those items to make sure we're able to give a full hamper to people when they come," said LeClair.
For the Thanksgiving weekend, Outreach will be giving out standard hampers but those will include some items to help make the holiday a little easier on residents.
Anyone wishing to make a donation can do so by visiting any food bank or organization alike across Chatham-Kent.
