Food Banks face higher costs, lower donations as demand rises [Video]

The Food Bank of Waterloo Region has not been able to purchase the same volume or quality of food due to higher food prices, but the demand for usage has only been increasing.

This comes as a new report from Feed Ontario, formally the Ontario Association of Food Banks, said this is the sixth consecutive year that food bank use has increased across the province.

“At the grocery store bins, we are definitely down,” said Kim Wilhelm, the interim CEO of the Food Bank of Waterloo Region.

The higher prices mean the food bank has to be more selective in their purchases.

“We needed to make a significant purchase of canned fruit, and the only canned fruit that we could get at the time was canned pineapple,” said Wilhelm.

Connie Becker has been volunteering to organize food at House of Friendship for nearly 20 years but has also been on the receiving side.

“Everyone needs help. That’s just the way things are nowadays. There’s no shame in it, some people think there is, but …