By Marney Beck Robinson, volunteer and board member
Now in its 34th year of operation, 2019 was both a very good and very tough year for the Richmond Hill Community Food Bank.
It was very good and rewarding in that the non-profit, registered charity was recognized with two awards: both the Richmond Hill Board of Trade Best Non-Profit Award and the Town of Richmond Hill’s Community Organization of the Year Award.
Both are a tribute to the 60+ volunteers who stock shelves and serve clients five mornings a week, with additional volunteers sorting donations in our warehouse and still more serving on the board of directors.
But the bad news and challenging circumstances in 2019 involved the exponential and continual growth in the number of hungry families coming through our doors needing emergency food aid.
In 2018, the food bank experienced an 11 per cent increase in the number of clients needing food aid, serving 11,763 individuals that year. In 2019, the numbers continued to climb, to a record 14,561 people served, including a record-shattering 1,453 people in November alone. Now two months into 2020, the trend shows no sign of slowing.
“This ever-increasing number of hungry clients means shortages on our food bank shelves. While we’ve never had to turn people away, stock in our warehouse some weeks dwindles to alarming levels,” says food bank manager Lee Reynolds.
Who are these people? Some are single people, unemployed or with precarious work situations. Some have disabilities and cannot work. There are many single mothers, plus seniors who can’t make their pensions stretch to buy food after paying for housing. And there are families large and small who are new to Canada and York Region, looking for help establishing themselves in a new country.
Each client is treated with dignity and compassion and must show proof of their Richmond Hill or Thornhill address, plus identification for each member of the family. Each client or family is able to choose about five days worth of food items each month.
Food bank volunteers and board members are extremely grateful that the community is responding to the rising numbers of hungry families needing help. Churches, schools, businesses, community groups and local grocery stores have donated more non-perishable goods than ever before, helping to fill our rapidly depleting shelves. Cash donations small and large are also coming in, allowing for the purchase of perishable foods such as eggs, milk, meat and produce.
The Easter food drive is one of the key times of year the food bank receives donations, and we are again counting on generous individuals and groups to help us meet the spike in demand, and ensure there aren’t empty shelves when hungry families come through our doors. The Richmond Hill Community Food Bank is located at 55 Newkirk Rd. (between Crosby and Centre) and is open to clients from 9 to 11:30 a.m. Monday through Friday. Manager Lee Reynolds can be reached at 905-508-4761 (weekday mornings) or by email at:
rhfoodbank@bellnet.ca.
To find out the most-needed items or convenient ways to donate online, check out the website at www.richmondhillcommunityfoodbank.ca and the food bank Facebook page at www.facebook.com/RichmondHillFoodBank/