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Orangeville Food Bank relies on holiday season donations

December 17, 2020   ·   0 Comments

By Brian Lockhart

The Orangeville Food Bank is a year-round organization that provides food for people who need it.

Relying on food and cash donations to operate, the Food Bank accepts donations all year, however, they receive their most generous donations just before and during the holiday season when people have a tendency to think more about giving to help others.

“This is our super busy season,” explained Orangeville Food Bank Executive Director, Heather Hayes. “Between September and December we bring in 75 per cent of everything, both food and financial donations that we need for the rest of the year. December is really critical for us in order to make sure we can continue on until next September. Typically, food banks don’t receive provincial or federal funding. This year is the exception as the federal government is supporting Food Banks Canada and that money is flowing down to us. Other than that food banks exist solely on donations from the community. We don’t get funding.”

Around 700 people visit the Food Bank each month in Orangeville. More and more seniors are relying on the Food Bank for a little help.

“In the last five years we’ve had a 328 per cent increase in the amount of seniors using the Food Bank,” Ms. Hayes said. “It’s actually 1900 per cent if you look over the last ten years. It’s a huge increase because pensions don’t keep up.”

The Food Bank doesn’t turn anyone away. If a person arrives from out of the area, they will still provide food on the first visit and assist people to find help in their own location.

The Food Bank has a philosophy that it just isn’t right to turn a person away when they are in need.

Since moving to their new location on Commerce Road in July, they have renovated the new building so they can handle a bigger and more varied supply of food. New coolers allow for the storage of produce and other items that need to be refrigerated.

Having access to fresh produce and healthy foods is an important part of any diet and the staff at the Food Bank make sure people can get these items in addition to other regular food staples.

Around 130 local residents volunteer at the Food Bank to make sure it is a well run operation.

“Our community has been extremely generous to make sure we can do what we do here,” Ms. Hayes said. “What happens if the Food Bank closes? There isn’t another option. With food, there’s really not a lot of options.”

The Food Bank relies on the generosity of the community to make sure they can continue to do their good work.


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