Christmas donations important for Helping Hand Food Bank

Volunteers at the Tillsonburg Helping Hand Food Bank have been busy stocking shelves amid increased demand. There are several avenues for donating beyond dropping off food, including purchasing bags of staples at the grocery store and participating in food drives at many businesses. (Contributed Photo)

Jeff Helsdon, Editor

Tillsonburg Helping Hand Food Bank coordinator Samantha Hamilton is asking area residents to consider donating food when making seasonal giving decisions.

“We do still purchase (in the winter months), but Christmas donations sustain us until Easter, when we do more food drives,” she said. “If we don’t see it in December, we don’t see it all.”

The need for food is year-round, but increases at Christmas.

One way to make donations is by using the pre-packaged grocery bags available at local grocery stores.

“It’s a really easy way for people to help,” Hamilton said, explaining it’s easy for people to pay for a bag while shopping and then leave it in the bin on the way out.

Food drives at both local industries and businesses are a great help to the food bank.

“Small to large, it doesn’t matter,” Hamilton said. “We really depend on food drives from businesses to get us through the coming months.”

One bonus in recent months has been farmers bringing their surplus to the food bank that would have been discarded. She cautioned that the food bank can’t take meat, eggs and milk directly from farmers that haven’t been processed.

The demand for the food bank has been increasing constantly in recent months.

“We are over-capacity every week,” Hamilton said. “We are running out of appointments. We have so many people need us and needing us more often.”

Asked the reason for the increased demand, Hamilton said people are at the breaking point, and living pay cheque to pay cheque.

“Now prices are increased, they are maxed out,” she said, adding that some people depend on overtime, and it hasn’t been there lately, starting a cycle of putting groceries on credit cards.

The food bank is open for donations on Tuesday or Wednesday mornings at the back door. There is also a Cram the Cruiser event planned at Metro on Dec. 13.

One common question is whether anything particular is needed, to which Hamilton answered, “Everything.”

“Anything works,” she added. “Even if it’s not typical inventory, it goes into the market. There’s nothing we won’t take.”

Hamilton described the market as a section of the food bank where people can go to augment their allotment beyond the staples.