The rising cost of groceries and other expenses is hitting food banks particularly hard, with local organizations reporting increased demand, while at the same time donations are down.

“We don’t have a good supply of food right now,” said Dianne McLeod, executive director of the Cambridge Food Bank.

McLeod said the organization is now buying food to keep its shelves stocked, but “as fast as it comes in it goes out.”

In the last month, over 1,000 families have accessed emergency food support at the Cambridge Food Bank. In a normal month, they’d see 700 to 800, McLeod said.

Kim Wilhelm with the Food Bank of Waterloo Region said they added 740 new households that have never accessed food assistance before between January and March of 2022.

“These numbers show more residents are struggling to make ends meet,” said Wilhelm.

It’s a concern across the country, with a recent Food Banks Canada study saying about one in five Canadians has experience going hungry at least once in the last two years.

While need is high now, it’s anticipated to continue increasing into the summer, posing an added challenge because donations typically go down during those months.

“Nearly 60 per cent of Canadians already struggle to feed their families. Unless there’s some cost relief, that number will only rise,” said Wilhelm.

The Cambridge Food Bank is hoping neighborhood or faith groups will consider running food drives to help, adding right now they could especially use fruit.

Meanwhile outside the Kitchener Market, Community Fridge K-W sat almost empty on Wednesday.

“This morning we had about 100 ice pops added and about 100 water bottles,” said organizer Kamil Ahmed. “And the fridge is currently empty, and that was just this morning.”

Ahmed said that’s been happening more recently – and it’s not just rising food prices playing a role.

“Even the fact that gas is more expensive means that folks that were coming from Guelph or Cambridge or other townships across the region to donate to the fridge, they're less likely to do that,” Ahmed explained.

Ahmed noted that the community fridge was launched during the pandemic to great success, but they have seen donations drop off more recently.

“As organizers we’re inviting the community back in and saying, hey, the pandemic might not look the same, but vulnerabilities in our communities still do.”