By rdnewsNOW staff

Donations Needed

Food Banks Canada seeking cash donations to deal with COVID-19

Mar 18, 2020 | 10:02 AM

As concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic grow, Food Banks Canada is worried about the shortage of food supplies and loss of volunteers they desperately rely on due to adherence to social distancing guidelines.

Officials with Food Banks Canada say many food banks across the network have food in stock to cover just 10 to 14 days for existing food bank clients, let alone the anticipated rise in demand that will result from the economic impact of coronavirus.

As a result, Food Banks Canada is urging Canadians to make monetary donations at foodbankscanada.ca, with the goal of raising $150 million in donations.

According to HungerCount 2019, an annual report released by Food Banks Canada that analyzes data from 4,934 food banks across Canada, Canadians already make more than one million visits to food banks every month.

By raising $150 million in donations, Food Banks Canada will be able to provide local food banks with the resourcing needed to adapt their client delivery processes, manage demand with a decrease in volunteer resources, purchase much needed staples and help clients in quarantine situations by providing essential food supports to them in home.

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Food Banks Canada CEO Chris Hatch is urging people to make a financial contribution if they can to help restore the food supply.

“I’m asking all Canadians to donate to food banks,” says Hatch, in a release. “It is vital to the lives of the hundreds of thousands of people who depend on them. “While the public is being advised to buy two weeks-worth of supplies to keep at home in an effort to curb the spread of coronavirus, for vulnerable Canadians who rely on our services each and every month that’s just not financially possible.”

“If frenzied stockpiling is what we’re seeing now during this period of uncertainty,” continues Hatch. “Then what happens should a recession hit? It would spell disaster for potentially millions of Canadians.”

To learn more, visit www.foodbankscanada.ca.