Communities across northeastern Ontario rally to help food banks

Food banks across the region are reporting an increase in the number of people accessing their services.

In Sudbury, the executive director of the Sudbury Food Bank says demand has gone up since the pandemic started in March.

Dan Xilon says there's been an increase in first-time users who need help.

"We actually have had a 30 per cent increase in first-time users since March of this year. These are individuals who would have never in their wildest dreams thought they would accessing the food bank service," he said.

"When you go into work on Tuesday morning at nine and you're told you're shut down at five Tuesday night, that tends to have an effect on people."

Xilon says the food bank is currently able to meet the demand and hasn't had to reduce services, but it will take continued community support to keep helping the number of people who need it.

He spoke with Morning North CBC host Markus Schwabe during CBC Sudbury's annual foodbank fundraiser, Sounds of the Season, on Friday.

Communities across northeastern Ontario are rallying around the needy.

Places like Cochrane are seeing a huge increase in the amount of food donated, says town food bank director Claude Rocheleau.

"This year it's been crazy, crazy how much money we got from from from our local people."

He says the food bank received an extra-generous donation from the local Lions club, which will keep them going for the short term. The Cochrane food bank servesover 100 peoplein the town of roughly 5,000 people.

Donations are up in Sault Ste. Marie as well, saysSara McCleary, who's with the St. Vincent Place food bank.

She says she's been using social media to get the food bank's message out.

"Facebook has been an amazing help for us. We use itfor putting out calls for things that we are running low on or out of," McCleary said.

"But I also use it to share with our followers [about the]number of people that we're helping each month."

McCleary says the food bank also needs hygiene items like toilet paper and toothbrushes. People can visit the St. Vincent Place Facebook page to see the items that are currently required.

Volunteers needed

Over at Sault Ste. Marie's Salvation Army food bank, manager Sean Fureysays it's been challenging to retain volunteers this year.

"We've been working with a skeleton crew and I know others are working with a skeleton crew. It makes the work a little bit harder and some days it seems like there's too much of it."

In a regular year, Furey says the food bank has the help of between 22 to 24 volunteers, but because of the pandemic, that number has dwindled to 12.