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Published on April 09, 2023 • Last updated on April 10, 2023 • 2 minutes reading time
Ken Schmitt (back), Geoff Bergsma (left) and David Little right, are all volunteers at the London Food Bank. They empty a van full of donated groceries on Monday April 10, 2023. (Mike Hensen/The London Free Press)
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The London Food Bank’s spring campaign comes to a successful end as the annual campaign runs to just one day, a yield all the more impressive given the skyrocketing cost of food, says the agency’s co-chief executive.
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The annual Easter Season campaign has so far raised 32,887 kilograms of food and cash equivalents, almost 7,500 kilograms more than in the same period last year.
Included in the total is $71,831 in financial contributions, a total that is converted into food at a rate of $3.61 per pound in the reporting.
This year’s campaign results are encouraging, especially because people’s money doesn’t go as far as it used to, Co-CEO Jane Roy said.
“It’s not just an increase from last year, there’s more food and more cash donations in the midst of inflation,” she said Sunday. “The food money is higher, but people spend more to get us these donations. . . . The Londoners were wonderful, just amazing.”
The food donations alone fill 80 to 100 bins at the Leathorne Street food bank, each the size of a four-foot cube, according to Roy.
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The 36th Annual Spring Food Drive kicked off on March 31 with a strong opening weekend, beating totals at the same point in the 2022 campaign. The early lead continued throughout the week, with daily collection totals beating last year’s benchmarks.
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The London Food Bank fundraiser remains strong into last weekend
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Pearson: Londoners’ support for the Food Bank is outstanding
Non-perishable food donations and non-food items – such as toiletries and detergent – can be dropped off at any London Fire Brigade Headquarters and most major grocery stores. Monetary donations could be made online at the food bank’s website.
The food bank is set to release its final spring food distribution totals on Wednesday after making final collections earlier this week.
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The initiative comes at a time when the London Food Bank and others in Ontario are struggling to cope with strong demand.
The London Food Bank provided aid to more than 5,000 families in March, the highest monthly amount in the organization’s more than three-decade history.
The number of first-time customers visiting the London Food Bank was around 36 per cent in 2022, eight percentage points higher than the year before.
Inflation and the rising cost of living mean the food bank’s customers aren’t just the unemployed and poor, Roy said.
“We all feel the pressure. We go in and a bag of groceries is now $50. It’s been like this for months,” she said. “We know how difficult it is for people who are on the edge. . . . One reason our numbers are increasing is because not only are the typical poor coming, but also people who work. Everyone really feels it.”
The Spring Grocery Sale started on March 31st and ends on April 10th. Donations to the Easter campaign are giving the food bank and the organizations it supports a much-needed boost as donations from the Christmas and Thanksgiving campaigns dwindle.
The food bank’s next big campaign is the Curb Hunger campaign in June.
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