Summer is the time when schedules are disrupted.
People take vacations, rearrange their schedules to cover childcare needs, and generally live their lives differently than they do during the other three seasons.
As a result, some things fall by the wayside.
Maybe the to-do list gets a little bit longer.
Perhaps the exercise routine succumbs to other pressures.
Or, in some cases, donations to charity dry up.
“Summer months have always been a challenge,” says Wendi Campbell, executive director of the Food Bank of Waterloo Region.
“It is a little bare, but we’re balancing it as best we can.”
The food bank relies on donations of food and money to send food to organizations like House of Friendship.
Matt Cooper, a program co-ordinator at that agency, says it’s common for food donations to “ebb and flow” through the year – with summer typically a low point, given it falls between two of the food bank’s major fundraising drives.
“There are generally more needs than we’re able to satisfy in the community, unfortunately,” he said.
It’s estimated that five per cent of households in Waterloo Region need help from food banks.
The Food Bank of Waterloo Region expects to provide 360,000 meals over the summer months.
Items most badly needed, Campbell says, include the following:
- Canned meat
- Canned fish
- Peanut butter
- Canned fruits and vegetables
- Pasta
- Pasta sauce
