Barrie Food Bank raises $150,000 with Spring Campaign, short of target
With the start of a new month comes the end of the Barrie Food Bank's spring campaign, which aimed to raise $250,000 and 100,000 pounds of food.
"We did well on the food side. We ended up with about 140,000 pounds of food. On the financial side, we were a little lighter than we had hoped at $150,000," shared the Barrie Food Bank's executive director Sharon Palmer.
Palmer said the food bank has consistently been seeing around 7,000 clients per month, but those numbers have recently levelled off.
"It's always dependent on the economy and what's happening on a broader perspective. With inflation coming down a little bit in the last month or so, that's a good sign," she noted.
The Sharing Place in Orillia reported a similar trend.
"We're seeing about a 30 to 40 per cent increase year over year. [The] last few months, it started to plateau", said Chris Peacock, The Sharing Place executive director.
Peacock currently assists around 2,200 individuals monthly, with an exceptionally high demand over the Easter weekend.
"Holiday seasons like Easter... the demand for our services increase," he said. "Anytime there's any increase to household budget. If people want to host individuals over for a holiday meal, it means that they have to find food, find money they didn't have planned."
- Download the CTV News app to get local alerts on your device
- Get the latest local updates sent to your email inbox
The Sharing Place and Barrie Food Bank consistently see a significant increase in first-time clients.
"Definitely, more seniors in our community are coming to access the sharing place, which is wonderful to see those individuals ask for support and help. Definitely families, individuals, single moms, and single dads," said Peacock.
"The main thing we would like to see is the financial donations because that allows us to buy the milk, the meat, the dairy. Those are the items we don't get donations for," explained Palmer.
The Barrie Food Bank's next campaign is the Home Runs for the Hungry fundraiser on May 4. The goal is to raise $30,000. Tickets for the event are available online.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
NEW 'Oh my God, you're my brother': Manitoba man discovers six unknown siblings
After receiving a DNA kit one Christmas from his son-in-law, Hugh McCormick soon discovered that he had six unknown siblings, with whom he shared the same birth parents.
No refund for travellers who cancelled flight already scrapped by airline: regulator
Four years on, the controversy over whether airlines owed refunds to passengers after cancelling hundreds of thousands of flights during the pandemic continues to simmer, aggravated by a sluggish, opaque complaints process.
'My family doctor just fired me': Ontario patients frustrated with de-rostering
Dozens of Ontarians are expressing frustration in the province’s health-care system after their family doctors either dropped them as patients or threatened to after they sought urgent care elsewhere.
Canucks hold off Oilers for 4-3 win in Game 3
Brock Boeser had two goals and an assist, and the Vancouver Canucks hung on for a 4-3 win over the Edmonton Oilers in Game 3 of their second-round Stanley Cup playoff series.
Ottawa pizzeria places among top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world at international competition
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
Man fatally 'slashed in the neck' in downtown Toronto, suspect outstanding
Police are searching for a male suspect after a man was “slashed in neck” on Sunday morning in downtown Toronto and died.
WATCH Dashcam video shows terrifying near-miss on two-lane northern Ontario highway
There were some scary moments for several people on a northern Ontario highway caught on video Thursday after a chain reaction following a truck fire.
'He's in our hearts': Family and friends still seek answers one year after Nathan Wise's disappearance
It’s been a year since Nathan Wise went missing and his family is no closer to finding out what happened to him.
Canada Post cracks down on Nunavut loophole to get free Amazon Prime shipping
Amazon's paid subscription service provides free delivery for online shopping across Canada except for remote locations, the company said in an email. While customers in Iqaluit qualify for the offer, all other communities in Nunavut are excluded.