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Wading its way through a pandemic, and rising costs of food and supplies the Regional Food Distribution Association (RFDA) is now facing an alarmingly low stockpile of food and other items in high demand for those that are less fortunate.
Releasing a statement on Monday, Brendan Carlin the Community Services Manager at the RFDA, stated that this is “a perfect storm of rising costs, increasing usage, and the fallout from the pandemic has left the RFDA almost empty of the usual goods that have on hand.” Carlin continued that it’s the lowest they’ve ever been and are entirely out of most of their top-10 most needed items that go into every hamper.
There’s been a rise in the use of foodbanks to the tune of over six per cent over the last year, whereas others are experiencing a 15-20 per cent usage increase.
In previous instances when the RFDA’s supplies would get low, they would reach out to the food organizations to help them and vice versa. This however isn’t the case, as all food donation organizations are struggling with low stock levels and low donations.
Those looking to help can make donations of some of the top items used:
- Canned Fish or meat i.e. Tuna, salmon, ham, etc…
- Macaroni and Cheese
- Canned Vegetables
- Canned Fruit
- Pork and Beans
- Peanut Butter
- Pasta
- Pasta Sauce
- Cereal
- Canned Soup
Cash donations can be made at the office or cheques mailed to 570 South Syndicate Ave, Thunder Bay, ON, P7E 1E7.
Online donations can also be made through this LINK HERE.
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