Demand at food banks in northeastern Ontario continues to grow

Sudbury's Amanda Gardner knows first-hand what it's like to rely on a food bank.

She lost her job at a Tim Hortons due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and has relied on the Sudbury Food Bank to help feed her family.

"There's always a rent increase, and we also have a hard time paying for extra food," she said.

Gardner said she hopes to go to culinary school and eventually open her own restaurant.

When Geoffrey Lougheed started the Sudbury Food Bank in the 1980s he thought it would just be a temporary solution for people who struggled to put food on the table.

"We all thought it was a Band-Aid solution," he said. "And here we are 40 years later, still working at it," he said.

Lougheed said demand for the Sudbury Food Bank has grown twofold since the COVID-19 pandemic started.

But he said community support and donations have managed to keep up with that demand.

On Friday,CBC Sudbury hosted its annual Sounds of the Season fundraiser for the Sudbury Food Bank and Feed Ontario. By that morning, our listeners and readers had already donated nearly $4,000 to the cause.

Reporter Erik White walked nearly nine kilometres Friday morning as he collected donations from passersby. He received roughly $1,300 in donations for the Sudbury Food Bank from his trek across the city.

CBC Sudbury also profiled food bank volunteers across the region, like Lise Branconnier, who started one of the newest food banks in the region, in the community of St. Charles.

Branconnier said she wanted to give back to her community in her retirement. She noticed the closest food bank to St. Charles was a 15 to 20 minute drive away, a problem especially for food bank users who do not have cars.

"Alot of people depended on other people to go pick up food for them," she said

Branconnier said she volunteers for the smiles it puts on people's faces.