Press Release
- sarahclarkebiz
- Nov 21, 2023
- 2 min read
Orangeville Food Bank Launches Holiday Food Drive
With Ambitious Goal to Meet Unprecedented Demand
For Immediate Release
Orangeville, ON November 21 2023
The Orangeville Food Bank is excited to announce the commencement of its 2023 Holiday Food Drive, setting an ambitious target to address the unprecedented surge in demand for food assistance this year. In response to the dramatic rise in food bank utilization, our goal is to collect 100,000 pounds of food to meet the growing needs of our community.
The director of the Food Bank, Heather Hayes, says “We, like food banks across Ontario and Canada, are seeing a dramatic increase in the need for our services as people from every walk of life struggle to cope with increasing food prices; inflation and the effects of higher interest rates. Our goal is a third of the food we will need this year to ensure we can feed our neighbours, friends and family. We so appreciate the support of the community, without you we couldn’t do what we do”
KEY STATS 2023 - INCREASE IN USE
In March 2023, Canadians made 1.9 million visits to food banks – a 79 per cent increase, compared to pre-pandemic visits during the same time period in 2019.
In Orangeville we have seen 94% increase in visits to the food bank compared to pre-pandemic visits in March of 2019
The top three reasons people accessed a food bank this year were due to food costs, low provincial social assistance rates, and housing costs.
17 percent of food bank clients report employment as their main source of income, compared to 12 per cent in 2019
10.4% of those accessing the Orangeville Food Bank list employment n as their primary source of income
37% of those accessing the Orangeville food bank are children compared to 33% nationally
In addition to the primary objective of gathering 100,000 pounds of food, the Orangeville Food Bank is thrilled to announce the High Five Turkey Drive, scheduled for Saturday, November 25th. This special event aims to collect 600 turkeys, with the aim of ensuring festive holiday meals for our clients in December.
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The Orangeville Food Bank is a not-for-profit organization that provides emergency food and supplies to 1400 people, an increase of over 50% from this time last year people a month in the Orangeville area. It is supported by approximately 180 volunteers and relies on food and monetary donations from our community. The Orangeville Food Bank believes in dignity and uses a points-based shopping system where patrons choose their own food. It is a member of Feed Ontario, one of the organizations in the Food Banks Canada Network.
For more information contact:
Savanaha O'Reilly
savanaha.oreilly@orangevillefoodbank.org
Food Manager
she/her
Orangeville Food Bank
519 942 0638
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