For two dollars, a single person can be kept in nutritious snacks for a week; for $5 that person can be fed for an entire day; and for just $10 that person's entire family of four can eat dinner all week.That was the message launched by the Loblaw National Food Drive Campaign this week in Toronto, giving new meaning to the old saying, 'a little bit means a lot' - especially for food relief agencies in times of economic hardship.
"We know the need is increasing, and it's a scary thought to know that the number of people losing jobs here in Toronto is going up and that those people are going to be coming in our doors soon. We need to prepare," Gail Nyberg, executive director of Daily Bread Food Bank, said the morning of Thursday, March 19 at Loblaw's Queen's Quay Market Store.
"Spring has always been a highly sensitive time for food banks across the country, as we experience decreasing food reserves after contributions from the holiday season run low and the consideration to donate is not top of mind. And this year we are witnessing an increase in new clients as the impact of the recession translates into even greater need for provisions than ever before."
Here in Toronto, Nyberg said more than 58,000 people pass through the doors of Daily Bread and its 225 member agencies on a monthly basis, with children making up 34 per cent of those clients. And if recent trends are any indication - food bank use in Toronto went up 10 per cent in the last quarter of 2008 - those numbers are only expected to rise as more and more jobs are lost to the recession.
In an attempt to raise both awareness and food stuffs for this critical issue locally, Loblaw Companies Ltd. teamed up with Daily Bread to kick-off of a spring food drive campaign that will run from Friday, March 20 until Friday, April 17.
Donations of non-perishable food items can be made at bins in all local Loblaw stores or can be dropped off at all Toronto fire halls. Cash donations can be made at Loblaw's checkouts until April 2, or anytime online at www.dailybread.ca
While the Toronto-wide drive aims to support Daily Bread's target of raising 250,000 pounds of food and $250,000 in funds, the national campaign's goal is to raise 2 million pounds of food and $1 million in 2009 for food banks across the country, said Inge van den Berg, vice president of Public Affairs and Investor Relations for Loblaw Companies Ltd.
"Our hope is that this consolidated call to action approach and the generous support of customers, colleagues, and franchisees, we can reach our food and funds target and make a meaningful impact in the fight against hunger," she said, touting the Loblaw National Food Drive Campaign as a significant first and one of the largest national campaigns of its kind.
"This is tremendously exciting. Loblaw's is an industry leader and longtime friend of ours," added Katharine Schmidt, executive director of Food Banks Canada. "So we're just thrilled to be partnered again for this largest ever, national retail drive."