Demand for House of Friendship Christmas program shuts down phoneline, hundreds queue online

A nonprofit organization is reporting overwhelming demand for an annual program that gives people a Christmas meal.

House of Friendship, a Waterloo Region based organization, opened up registrations for their Christmas Food Program on Nov. 1.

The number of people who immediately went to sign up was staggering, with 1,000 people in the online queue in the first hour. Christmas Food Program supervisor Natanya Wombwell says that’s compared to about 300 at the same time last year.

“We were seeing more than triple the demand the first day,” Wombwell told CTV News, noting that it doesn’t include Cambridge, where registrations opened a few days later.

“We did as best as we could to prepare for the high volumes over the phones and the website. But unfortunately, the first day we had both of them crash.”

Later that afternoon, the House of Friendship posted an update, saying they were still actively working on registering as many participants as possible.

The Christmas Food Program is part of the Waterloo Region Christmas Support Network that helps people living on a low income in Waterloo Region. The program provides about 4,600 families a frozen turkey or other protein and a gift card to help them put a special holiday meal on the table.

It took less than a week for nearly all this year’s spaces to be filled.

The need for food is greater than ever this year, with an estimated one in eight families in Waterloo Region struggling to afford food.

Kim Wilhelm, the CEO of the Food Bank of Waterloo Region, says this time of year can be especially difficult for many people.

“Weather gets cooler. People are having to buy winter clothing, warmer clothing. Heat expenses in homes go up,” says Wilhelm. “There’s generally an increase in expenses at this time of year.”

Once the Christmas Food Program is full, people who are still interested can put their name on a waitlist. Those involved also emphasize that there are other sources of support for those who need it.

“We will make sure that if you are in need of food assistance, we will connect you with the appropriate resources to get the food that you need,” says Wilhelm.

“We do want to emphasize anyone that was not able to get into the food registration that there are still supports available in the community. They may not be Christmas specific, but no one will go hungry,” says Wombwell.

The program is possible thanks to the combined efforts of the Food Bank of Waterloo Region, the Rotary Club of Kitchener Conestoga’s annual Turkey Drive, other community donations and hundreds of volunteers. Those wishing to donate to support the efforts can do so via the organizations’ websites.