KITCHENER -- Food banks across the province are experiencing increased demand due to the pressure people are under during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Food Bank of Waterloo Region said demand was going down before COVID-19 because the local economy was strengthening, but now people need them more than ever.
"Currently we're serving more individuals and families than we were pre-COVID and that number continues to grow," CEO Wendi Campbell said.
Since March, the food bank reported a 30 per cent increase in emergency food assistance with 1,301 households asking for help with groceries for the first time. The demand for hampers has gone up by seven per cent since the second wave began.
Nineteen per cent of the people in the region accessing help are working or were recently employed, which is higher than the provincial average of 12.8 per cent.
"A lot of that connects back to the cost of living in this community, the rise of food prices, the high housing costs," Campbell said. "Families continue to struggle to make ends meet and put food on the tables."
Campbell said the food bank got more organized in the first wave, and they're feeling more prepared for an increase in demand with more trucks and more volunteers.
Provincially, food banks are still sitting at demand levels seen during the recession more than 10 years ago.
"That need has never gone back down," said Carolyn Stewart, executive director of Feed Ontario. "We're still carrying the need from 10 years ago and so, unfortunately, we believe the worst is yet to come."
The Food Bank of Waterloo Region expects to see demand continue to increase over the next year.
A report on the impact of food bank use in Ontario can be found here.
