Thanksgiving and Oktoberfest: Excellent time to support the Food Bank

It’s the time of year when food bank demand begins to spike, so it’s no coincidence the organization put on the full-court press to restock shelves in preparation for the busy winter season.

The Food Bank of Waterloo Region (FBWR) has a pair of food drives coming up, coinciding with Oktoberfest and Thanksgiving celebrations.

Friday, Oct. 11 is Grillfest, hosted by Kitchener City Council. It’s happening at Gaukel Block (Gaukel Street and Charles Street), grab a sausage, a cookie and a beverage for a minimum $5 donation. All proceeds go to the FBWR.

Then on Monday, Oct.14, is the Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest Thanksgiving Day Parade.

People can bring a donation to be picked up by Unkel Hans Food Drive volunteers along the parade route. They can also go online to make a financial donation or text PARADE to 30333.

The support has never been needed more.

According to FBWR, one in 10 households in Waterloo Region (WR) have accessed food supports in the last year. In 2022, that number was one in 14. In 2021, it was one in 20. Breaking it down, that’s around 9,000 households in WR or roughly 24,000 people that had to access a food assistance program.

Interim CEO, FBWR, Kim Wilhelm told The Mike Farwell Show, last year was the worst year on record for food banks in Ontario.

“As a province, we had over 1-million people accessing food assistance. A million people accessed a food assistance program 7.6-million times. I keep replaying those numbers in my head because it really is an astronomical number. It’s actually a 135 per cent increase since 2019-2020.”

Wilhelm points squarely at the affordability crisis. She says there are three main factors leading to more people relying on food banks: Poor government policy eroding supports for people who are struggling. A lack of affordable housing resulting in people having to spend more on housing. And, a major increase in low-paying, unstable jobs that rarely offer benefits.