Thanksgiving food drive donations down in Sarnia

Donations are down significantly to this year’s Thanksgiving food drive for Sarnia’s Inn of the Good Shepherd.

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“We’ve certainly been grateful for the food coming in from the Thanksgiving food drive,” said executive director Myle Vanni. More than 27,000 bags were distributed the week of Sept. 25 to encourage local residents to donate.

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But just under 6,350 kg (14,000 pounds) of food had been received as of Saturday which is less than half of what was collected at the same point during last fall’s food drive, said Vanni.

The agency runs programs for the working poor, unemployed and the homeless, and its food bank has been hit recently with a 20 to 25-per-cent increase in demand, as well as a drop in donations.

“Everybody’s feeling pinched with the cost of food and inflation,” Vanni said.

“Families that were just kind of making ends meet are now having to come to the food bank, or maybe folks who only came once in a while are coming more often because the dollar is just not covering what it used to.”

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It’s even tougher for those relying on seniors’ or disability pensions, Vanni said.

“It has probably the toughest time I’ve ever seen here at the Inn,” he said.

Donors are also feeling the impact of inflation, Vanni said.

Many who would buy extra items for the Inn while grocery shopping aren’t doing that now “because their food budget is tighter,” he said.

Between 2,100 and 2,200 people are currently using the agency’s food bank, Vanni said.

“We’re having to spend more on purchasing food than we’ve ever done before,” including a total of $80,000 in August and September, he said.

Vanni said a private donation matched by the local construction association brought in $40,000 recently, which has helped.

The Thanksgiving food drive officially wraps up Sunday but Vanni said, “even when the food drive ends, the need doesn’t end.”

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Donations will continue to be accepted at local grocery stores, firehalls, the Inn on John Street and the Good Shepherd’s Lodge shelter on Confederation Street, he said.

Shana Fellows, with Remax Sarnia Realty, was collecting food donations Saturday in the parking lot at the Bright’s Grove Foodland.

It was the 14th year of a food drive Fellows began with an annual collection in the fall in the Sherwood Village neighborhood of Sarnia and expanded a few years ago to include Bright’s Grove.

Fellows said she and Theresa Powers collected donations the previous weekend in Sherwood Village.

“Any little bit helps,” Fellows said. “They need our help more than ever before.”

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