The Food Bank of the Waterloo Region is asking the community to help it reach its goal of one million meals by the end of August. Organizers are looking for monetary donations for ‘Full Bellies = Happy Hearts,’ a campaign aimed at helping feed children within the region and to help them afford extra expenses.
“The campaign supports things like food purchase and distribution costs, and gives us the ability to expand our capacity to meet more needs in the community by supporting more programs, especially new programs that are popping up as restrictions are lifted and some of our programs can reopen,” said Wendi Campbell, CEO of The Food Bank of Waterloo Region.
This is the fourth year for the campaign. To date they have raised more than two million meals.
Campbell said some 12,000 children in the region use the food bank each year, underlining the importance of the fundraising goal.
“We’re halfway through the campaign, but we’re at about 85 per cent of our goal, which is amazing. We’re really on track to reach that goal. And the reality is last year, throughout our entire network of programs throughout Waterloo Region, we acquired and distributed food for more than three million meals in the community. This is just one piece of our annual effort to ensure that no one goes hungry in Waterloo Region,” said Campbell.
“Some of the biggest increases we’ve seen is the number of new households that are accessing food assistance, so in the first year that we were tracking all of our pandemic numbers more than 2,600 new households accessed services from one of the programs in our community food assistance network. And those were individuals and families who were accessing services for the very first time.”
Campbell said the food bank continues to see its food distribution numbers rise. Current donations will help the organization meet demand through the fall, with Thanksgiving and Christmas drives in the offing.
“This is a really important time of year to focus on the need and to remember that the need exists. We are all feeling that summer is really different for so many of us, and some of us are feeling that we’re getting back to normal and we’re able to spend time with family and friends a little more, but the reality is hunger doesn’t take a holiday it doesn’t go away,” she added.
Any monetary or food donations can be directed to the Food Bank of Waterloo Region. To date they are at 85 per cent of their one-million meals goal, they hope to be at 100 per cent by the end of August with the help of the community.
