About 180 people attended the recent Better Together Gala hosted by the Huron County Food Bank Distribution Centre.
Executive Director Mary Ellen Zielman said the gala is a social event that brings the community together and raises money for the distribution centre to help the local food banks provide food for those in need.
“It's getting harder and harder for a two-parent work family to make ends meet," says Zielman. "Everything is so expensive, gas, groceries, housing, renting a place is so expensive so their dollars don't go as far as they used to.”
Zielman added the food banks are doing their best to keep up with the demand, but she says that demand is continuing to go up and there doesn't seem to be any end in sight.
“At the beginning of the year Canada Food Banks said that it'll be 60 per cent higher usage by the end of the year," she said. "I think we're at about 25 to 30 per cent more, so they aren't that far off in the 60 per cent prediction. That's a lot.”
The distribution centre's food truck that goes around to different communities has also noticed an increase in demand.
