Waterloo Region Food Bank collects two million meals during summer campaign
Posted Sep 19, 2022 08:30:00 PM.
The Food Bank of Waterloo Region announced on Monday that its summer “Full Bellies Happy Hearts” campaign has reached its goal of raising two million meals.
The Food Bank held the annual campaign from June 1 to August 31 to combat food insecurity faced by children without access to school-run breakfast and lunch programs. The charity said with “the help of the Allan Bush Investment Team, campaign title sponsor, providing two million meals is now a reality.”
“We're so pleased with this year's campaign outcome,” said Kim Wilhelm, acting CEO for The Food Bank of Waterloo Region in a press release. “The community and Allan Bush, along with his team, have really stepped up. Hunger is an ever-growing issue, and it's clear our community is just as passionate as we are in addressing it.”
Wilhelm added, “While we celebrate this milestone achievement, we also recognize that there's more work to be done locally, in Ontario, and across Canada to address and decrease food insecurity. We need people to come together and join advocacy efforts for true solutions to hunger and poverty including putting an end to legislated poverty to help those in our community.”
According to the Waterloo Region Food Bank, nearly 35,000 people in the region have accessed emergency food assistance over the last year. 35 per cent of those were under the age of 18.
Between April 2020 and March 2021, more than 592,000 adults and children accessed a food bank in Ontario. The proportion of employed adults accessing food banks also grew 44 per cent before the pandemic started.
