Food bank accepting monetary donations

By Jeff Helsdon

Editor

The Tillsonburg Helping Hand Food Bank is accepting financial donations as a way to meet increasing demand.

In a typical year, the food bank would do a spring food drive, but instead this year is doing what coordinator Samantha Hamilton calls the Spring Forward Give Back Financial Drive.

“People can donate any amount they want and it would go towards us purchasing groceries,” she explained.

Donations can be by cash or cheque in person at the food bank’s location at 131B Rolph Street during office hours from Tuesday to Thursday from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Online e-transfers can be made to  coordinatorhhfbtburg@gmail.com or cheques can be mailed to PO Box 144, Tillsonburg, ON, N4G 4H3. Tax receipts can be given for monetary donations.

“This gives another option for someone who wants to give back but doesn’t want to go through the chore of grocery shopping,” she said.

Financial donations also give the food bank more bang for the buck with the food bank able to use bulk buying power. This was started in October, through a combination of buying from local grocery stores with pre-orders on sale items and direct from suppliers on some items like milk where 400 liters is needed.

“When something is on sale, we can buy a larger amount to get us through to when it’s next on sale so we can get more,” Hamilton said.

The spring drive comes at a time when the number of individual visits increased to 7,036 last year, up from 5,598 in 2023. Looking at it a different way, there were 839 individuals served by the food bank at the end of 2024.

Hamilton attributed the growing demand on a number of factors.

“We’re seeing a lot of clients we haven’t seen in 16 to 18 months, coming back” she said. “That’s probably growing prices - $50 in groceries in 2020 is not $50 in groceries now.”

The growth in the town’s population is another factor.

“Along with that comes rising rent and housing prices – it’s supply and demand,” Hamilton said.

With increasing rent, mortgage and insurance costs, sometimes people resort to buying what they can when their other bills are paid.

“That’s usually one of the quicker things to tail off,” she said of grocery purchases.

Layoffs and shutdowns are also adding to those who use the food bank.

In light of the rising demand, the food bank is planning an audit to increase its efficiency. Hamilton said to date there aren’t any plans to reduce the amount of food given out.

“A lot of food banks have done that,” she said. “Fortunately, Tillsonburg has been good to us and I plan on keeping it that way as long as possible.”