You hear many complaints about how the 2008-09 recession obliterated people’s savings, in some cases by 30 to 50 percent or even more. Particularly for those nearing or in retirement, that was disastrous.
For some of those seniors, along with people of all ages across Canada, the recession hit even harder. It hit them in the stomach.
According to a 2011 study by Food Banks Canada called Hunger Count, 851,014 people accepted food from a food bank in March of that year, 26 percent more than pre-recession levels.
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Assistance in Alberta soared between 2008 and 2011, up 75 percent to 58,735 people.
In Saskatchewan, 20,665 people needed food, up 16.4 percent from 2008. In Manitoba, the number rose 37 percent to 55,575.
Even in our better economies, the need persists.
Food banks do their best to get the message out that they need donations of food and money to help those who are struggling, but they need all the help they can get.
Farm Credit Canada, to that end, has been operating its FCC Drive Away Hunger campaign since 2004, when an Ontario employee drove a tractor and trailer through the province for eight days, collecting food and donations.
Since then, FCC, with your help, has collected 7.8 million pounds of food for food banks. Last year, the total was 2.4 million lb. Not bad for one collection drive.
This year, the campaign begins Sept. 24 and runs until Oct. 19, including tractor-trailer tours in mid-October through Alberta, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick and Quebec. Donations can also be dropped off at any FCC office.
It’s depressing to note that food banks were started in the early 1980s — there’s that recession issue again — as a short-term emergency re-sponse to poverty. As Hunger Count notes, “they are not, and were never meant to be, an acceptable long-term approach to this problem.”
Unfortunately, we haven’t solved the problems yet. Fortunately, people can still access food banks, with help from you, from us, from Drive Away Hunger and FCC.
If you have any questions about how you can help, call 800-387-3232 or visit www.fccdriveawayhunger.ca.
