Over the past year, Community Care Thorold has seen a 90 per cent increase in the number of times clients access their food services.
To meet demand, local community members at St. John’s Church and Foodland are doing all they can to keep the food bank going.
Maxine Hutchings is the branch manager at Community Care Thorold, and she says that inflation and rising costs have hit the food bank’s clientele particularly hard.
Many people, who frequent Thorold Community Care, spend more than half their paychecks on rent and transportation, often leaving them with very little for groceries.
Until recently, clients could shop at the Thorold food bank every 30 days, but due to the increased need, Community Care has started providing meal bags that clients can pick up in between their allotted shop times.
Anglicans in Action, an outreach group, drops off about 60 of those bags per week, according to Hutchings.
The meal bags usually include easy-to-make foods like a can of tuna and Kraft Dinner with instructions on how to create a meal.
One of the biggest misconceptions about Community Care is that they don’t accept fresh foods such as margarine or meats.
Hutchings stresses that they even accept food that has gone past its 'best before' date, in accordance with Food Banks Canada guidelines.
“Instead of letting it go to waste, someone will be more than grateful for it,” she says. “Nothing is too little for the food bank.”
Todd Marr, owner and operator of Foodland Thorold, has been supporting Community Care for over 21 years.
In partnership with Sobeys and the Food Rescue program, Marr collects food that might go to waste because of 'best before' dates and donates it to Community Care.
“We know we can count on each other for anything,” says Marr. “I ask Thorold to support me so why shouldn’t I support Thorold.”
St. John’s Church is another longtime supporter of Community Care Thorold.
Joe Gallop, who is the People’s Warden at the church, says he “can’t remember a time when [the church] didn’t donate” to Community Care.
During every Sunday service, an announcement is made about the type of donations Community Care is looking for that week.
There’s also a barrel out front at the Church’s entrance for people to donate food or clothing.
Right now, St. John's Church is supporting the 'Snacks n’ Sneakers' campaign, which aims to provide kids with school supplies. At other times of the year, the church will collect winter clothing and sanitary items.
According to Hutchings, it’s that continued support that keeps Community Care Thorold going. To her, building connections within the local community is the key to lifting up others.
