‘Tidal wave of demand’ has food bank officials worried about the future in Mississauga

Food Banks Mississauga officials say the pace of their annual Thanksgiving Drive must pick up if they’re to meet the organization’s $800,000 goal.

Faced with an ongoing “food security crisis” experienced in the past year by an all-time high 56,267 Mississauga residents, officials with the city’s largest food bank organization say they’re barely over half-way towards reaching the fall fundraising objective.

Food bank officials said in a news release on Monday they’re making an “urgent call for donations” as they’ve raised only 52 per cent of the $800,000 Thanksgiving Drive goal to date.

The annual campaign kicked off in early September and concludes Oct. 21. Last year’s fall drive raised $783,963, significantly short of its $1 million goal.

“This ambitious yet vital goal ($800,000) reflects the growing crisis as the number of Mississauga residents who turned to a food bank increased by 58 per cent (last year), compared to the provincial increase of 25 per cent,” food bank officials said.

Officials at Food Banks Mississauga, which heads up a network of more than 60 community agencies, said Mississauga experienced the largest growth in food bank usage in all of Ontario and Canada last year, and it continues to rise.

“It is disheartening to hear from Food Banks Mississauga how many in our city are in need of food support and the alarming rate at which food bank usage continues to grow,” said Mayor Carolyn Parrish. “That’s why this Thanksgiving, our city’s residents need your support more than ever. Your gift will ensure our neighbours have food on their tables.”

Food Banks Mississauga CEO Meghan Nicholls recently delivered an update to city councillors on the fast-growing need for food bank services in Mississauga.

Food Banks Mississauga’s latest Annual Impact Report, released last week, shows one in 13 Mississauga residents uses a food bank, almost one-third of them children.

Furthermore, residents made more than 421,000 visits to a food bank last year, 80 per cent more than the previous year.

“We are experiencing a tidal wave of demand and we are worried about the future,” said FBM CEO Meghan Nicholls. “We can’t endlessly increase our capacity; there is a ceiling, and we will hit it. What will happen when we can no longer provide food support to the 56,000-plus people, to the 16,000 children in Mississauga who rely on our services? These numbers keep increasing, and you can help this Thanksgiving.”

Officials say that for every $1 donated to the drive, Food Banks Mississauga can provide healthy and appropriate food for one meal to those in need.

The $800,000 fall campaign objective is part of a larger $9 million fundraising goal for the entire year, Nicholls said.

“Something unique happening in Mississauga”

That money — and significantly more — is badly needed to just not fall behind in efforts to keep enough food on the table for many Mississauga families who need the help, she added.

And the situation is also worsening across Ontario and Canada.

Nicholls pointed to provincial numbers released in September that show more than one million Ontario residents have used a food bank in the past year — “it was 500,000 people in Ontario just four years ago,” she noted.

But in Mississauga, the head of the city’s largest food bank agency said, there’s something different taking place that speaks to an even greater and more urgent need than is being experienced in other places.

Again, she drew attention to the latest data that shows the average increase in food bank usage in the past year across Ontario was nearly 25 per cent while that number is nearly 60 per cent in Mississauga.

“There’s something unique happening in Mississauga, in Peel in this last year that is really putting pressure on the food banks,” Nicholls said in an earlier address to city councillors.

She said 32 per cent of people who’ve used the food bank in the last year in Mississauga have only been in Canada for less than 12 months.

“So, our sense is that … if you land at Pearson Airport (in Mississauga) and you don’t have a lot of resources, you’re still going to be in Mississauga. And so, there are a lot of people who have arrived and are not being provided with those immigration supports. I think that’s a part of what we’re seeing. I think the housing (costs) being very high in Mississauga, the $2,700 a month (average rent) for an apartment, (is also a factor). It is higher than the national average and I think that has contributed (to the situation in Mississauga). Something unique is happening here that is really challenging.”