Sarnia’s Inn of the Good Shepherd counting on fall food drive

Sarnia’s Inn of the Good Shepherd is about to launch its important fall food drive amid rising demand and declining donations at its food bank.

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The charity, which also runs a soup kitchen, shelters and other programs for those in need, has seen use of its food bank rise 20 per cent in the last year, said executive director Myles Vanni.

“But we’ve also seen about an equal drop in the amount of food donations coming in,” he said.

About 2,200 people rely on the food bank each month, Vanni said.

About 30,000 food drive bags will be distributed around the first week of October in the newspaper, Sarnia and Lambton County This Week.

Each year, local residents are asked to fill the bags with non-perishable food and drop them off at the Inn on John Street in Sarnia, local grocery stores and fire halls.

“We’re hoping people will be generous,” Vanni said. “It’s a tough time, we know, for everyone,”

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That includes those who rely on the food bank and “people who are donating, but because of the cost of living, can’t donate quite as much,” he said.

Inflation in Canada slowed to two per cent in August, but prices for food and other household needs have climbed steeply in recent years.

With food donations down, the Inn has dipped into reserves, spending $15,000 to $20,000 a month on food to help fill its shelves, Vanni said. “Prior to COVID, we would spend maybe $5,000 a month.”

At the same time, rising grocery bills were affecting food donations, one long-standing annual citywide food drive, Cyclone Aid, paused in the spring.

“That was 25,000 pounds (11,340 kilograms) of food that we lost,” Vanni said.

Officials at St. Patrick’s Catholic secondary school felt it only could carry out one food drive a year, he said.

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St. Patrick’s has for years sent students and volunteers out on a weekend before Christmas to collect food donations for its Irish Miracle.

Cyclone Aid was a spring drive, created by the former St. Christopher Catholic secondary school which amalgamated with St. Patrick’s several years ago.

“We’re hoping people will be able to dig a little deeper and be a little more grateful for what they’ve got, and hopefully share some of that,” during the Inn’s upcoming food drive, Vanni said.

At one time, the Inn’s fall drive collected about 13,600 kg (30,000 pounds) of food, but last year only about half that much came in, he said. “We’re hoping we might be able to change that.”

The food bank serves many people working part-time jobs, “sometimes several,” struggling to make ends meet due to higher food costs, Vanni said.

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“We’re seeing people who would only come once in a while, coming more often,” and people who haven’t used the food bank before, he added.

Last month, a donation by the Sarnia Construction Association, contractors and the Gordon Foundation let the Inn bring in about 18 pallets of food, Vanni said.

“That was a big boost, but that lasts less than a month,” he said.

As well as food donations, the Inn accepts financial donations via its website, theinnsarnia.cahe said.

Food items most in need include peanut butter and jam, pasta and sauce, canned meat, canned fruit, canned pasta, side dishes and “really, anything you would serve on your table at home,” Vanni said.

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