In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the London Food Bank in Ontario is seeing more first-time visits every day.
Jane Roy, co-executive director of the community organization, said the numbers at the grocery bank have remained constant and that 100 to 110 families have access to the service every day.
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“What we notice is the percentage of families who come and have never visited the grocery bank before.”
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On Tuesday, 31 percent of families who had access to the food bank were there for the first time.
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“These were students who had worked part-time but now had no source of income, and there were people who had been laid off and had not applied for Canadian emergency aid,” noted Roy.
“Obviously, when you see people coming who have never come before, it’s very difficult for them to get to a place like a food bank, but that’s what we’re here for.”
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Londoners have gone to great lengths to support the London Food Bank’s annual virtual grocery campaign amid the pandemic.
Roy noted that they now have three times more donations for their virtual grocery campaign than they did at this point last year.
“It was emotional to see these donations and comments from people who said they wanted to help.”
Donations to the food bank ranged from $ 5 to $ 2,000.
So far, the food bank has raised a few hundred thousand dollars that Roy said is just under a hundred thousand pounds of grocery.
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The money raised will not only benefit the food bank, but also a number of other agencies that the food bank works with.
Anyone who would like to donate and support the Food Bank can find more information on the London Food Bank website.
As of Thursday, the Middlesex London Health Unit reported a total of 170 COVID-19 cases in the area, with 48 cases now resolved and a total of 8 deaths.
© 2020 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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