{"id":929336,"date":"2026-10-11T19:24:19","date_gmt":"2026-10-11T19:24:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/929336\/"},"modified":"2026-10-11T19:24:19","modified_gmt":"2026-10-11T19:24:19","slug":"ottawa-food-bank-donation-drive-to-meet-rising-demands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/929336\/","title":{"rendered":"Ottawa food bank: Donation drive to meet rising demands"},"content":{"rendered":"

Food banks throughout the country are facing massive demands as the cost of living continues to impact Canadians at the grocery store. Michael Serapio reports. <\/p>\n

While many students were enjoying a sunny start to the long weekend in Ottawa, 14-year-old Liam MacInnis decided to spend his Saturday helping others.<\/p>\n

He headed to a local grocery store with his mother to volunteer his time collecting donations for the Ottawa Food Bank.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople struggle, so it\u2019s important to have food banks out there,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Like food banks across the country, the Ottawa Food Bank held a food drive this weekend, hoping to stock its shelves and raise awareness about the growing need for food assistance.<\/p>\n

At a Metro store in the Ottawa suburb of Orleans, MacInnis and other volunteers collected non-perishable food items as the organization grappled with unprecedented demand.<\/p>\n

\"\"Ottawa food drive Liam MacInnis, 14, is pictured. <\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately for us, our growth right now is unprecedented. We haven\u2019t seen this level of need in the city,\u201d said Natalie Spooner, Chief Executive Officer of the Ottawa Food Bank.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the last year alone,\u201d she said, \u201cwe\u2019ve seen 588,000 visits. That\u2019s something we\u2019ve never seen before. And so, when we\u2019re responding to that need, it is very challenging to be able to keep those donations high, to be able to meet that need.\u201d<\/p>\n

Food Banks Canada says in 2025 (the last year for which data is available), food banks across the country saw nearly 2.2 million visits each month. <\/p>\n

That is double the monthly usage recorded six years ago.<\/p>\n

A troubling trend for the organization, because it took decades for food banks to reach a million monthly visits, but little more than half a decade to double it.<\/p>\n

\"\"Ottawa food drive Ottawa Food Bank. (CTV News) <\/p>\n

But numbers only tell a part of the story. The people behind them also paint a fuller picture. <\/p>\n

In 2025, Food Banks Canada said 40 per cent of their visitors were people on social assistance or disability supports. Thirty-three per cent were children, while 19 per cent of food bank clients were people who had jobs but still couldn\u2019t make ends meet. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe reality of the economy for some people is that affordability is a crisis,\u201d said Michael Von Massow, Food Economist with the University of Guelph. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd it\u2019s not just food prices that have gone up. We know gasoline prices are up, and there aren\u2019t very many gasoline banks or transit banks. So where people go is to food banks to try and bridge the gap.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Ottawa food drive Ottawa Food Bank. (CTV News) <\/p>\n

Spooner added that food insecurity doesn\u2019t come out of nowhere. Oftentimes, it is the result of many other challenges a person is facing in their life.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re struggling to afford food, it\u2019s because you have to make very tough choices already,\u201d she said. \u201cYou choose medication, or choose to pay your rent, or choose to turn the lights on, or pay those bills. Unfortunately, food is the last thing that they would have to afford.\u201d<\/p>\n

The federal government has introduced measures in an effort to address the affordability challenge. <\/p>\n

Those include a middle-class income tax cut, the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefits, and the temporary suspension of the federal fuel excise tax. <\/p>\n

But Food Banks Canada wants more. <\/p>\n

\"\"Ottawa food drive Ottawa Food Bank. (CTV News) <\/p>\n

The organization\u2019s call to action includes reforms to Employment Insurance (EI), increases to the Canada Workers Benefit and disability benefits, and more investments into affordable housing. <\/p>\n

Priorities echoed by many in the fight against hunger in Canada, including Neil Heatherington, the Chief Executive Officer of Toronto\u2019s Daily Bread Food Bank.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are hopeful that Canadians see the need, respond to the need, donate to their local food bank,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd at the same time, (that) all the elected officials this Thanksgiving reflect on what a Canada can be without food insecurity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Frontline workers also know things don\u2019t look promising in the near future, with unemployment rising, and the price of diesel affecting the price of food and every aspect of the supply chain. <\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, we\u2019re starting to get out of the Canadian harvest season and we\u2019re getting into the time that we import,\u201d said Von Massow. \u201cSo as freight prices go up and the distances that things are being shipped increases, we\u2019re sort of confident that we\u2019re going to see price increases over the course of this winter.\u201d<\/p>\n

A reality that will put more pressure on Canadians already struggling to get food onto their tables, and pressure on organizations like the Ottawa Food Bank, as it tries to stock its shelves to meet the demand of the next few months.<\/p>\n

For now, food banks are counting on Canadians to remember their neighbours this Thanksgiving weekend, much like a 14-year-old boy who decided to do what he could to fight hunger in his community.<\/p>\n

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