Northeastern Ontario charities see greater demand for their services

United Way North East Ontario has had to get creative to maintain the same level of funding for the charities it supports with fewer donors.

Mary Lou Hussak, United Way North East Ontario's executive director, said the organization has 11 per cent fewer donors this year, compared to the previous year, but individual donations have been up around 10 per cent.

"So it kind of balanced out," Hussak said.

To meet its funding goals, and support 30 social service organizations in northeastern Ontario, Hussak said United Way has relied more on workplace campaigns for fundraising.

Due to the pandemic, it has also used social media and digital fundraising campaigns to collect funds.

The online donations platform CanadaHelps has projected that charitable giving in Canada declined by 12 per cent from 2019 to 2021.

"We really honed in on the uncertainties that have come out of the pandemic and the unprecedented strain that this has put on Canada's charitable sector," Jacob O'Connor, the platform's senior vice-president of charity engagement, told CBC News.

"Giving has declined, the demand for service has increased and people's propensity to give and ability to give has also decreased. It's kind of a triple whammy there."

Hussak, with United Way North East Ontario, said one in four people need to access the social services they support.

"And we know that a lot of people in our communities are one or two paycheques away from having to access those services as well," she said.

While Hussak said their bottom line hasn't decreased throughout the pandemic, they also haven't been able to grow, as the community need has increased.

"It's incredibly challenging," she said.

"A lot of the agencies that we support are short on resources. Not just financial resources or program resources, we also see the human resources. So, you know, they don't have the money, they don't have the staff, they don't have the resources."

Dan Xilon, executive director of the Sudbury Food Bank, said they are receiving less funding overall than last year.

Due to the pandemic and inflated food prices, he said demand for their services has also increased.

"It's not only people that don't have jobs that use food banks, it's people that work that use food banks," Xilon said.

"If you have rent and everything else, and you're not making enough money, well the food bank's there. We're not just here for people who aren't working."

Xilon said that despite a drop in donations, the Sudbury Food Bank is prepared to meet growing demand for at least the next two years.

"I'm thinking to myself only 20 per cent of the people in the world donate, so giving anything is an incredible assistance and help," he said.