It’s another busy day at the food bank in Barrie, with a record number of people reaching out for assistance again this month. The operations manager of the Barrie Food Bank, James Ward says, “Last month, we served just over 8,100 people in Barrie.” That’s a 16 per cent increase from this time last year. The food bank’s Fill the Gap holiday campaign is now underway. Staff is expecting big demand in the months ahead and turning to the kindness of the community to help out. “It’s definitely getting into an area where we are not really sure what next month is going to be. With November climbing over October already and December still a ways out, we are really going to count on this campaign to get us where we need to be,” Ward adds. The massive increase is being felt across the province. With the cost of living up across the board, people are being stretched too thin. Minimum wage in Ontario is $17.60. The Ontario Living Wage Network says there is nowhere in Ontario where you can work full time at that salary and cover all your costs. Chief Executive and Philanthropy Officer for United Way Simcoe Muskoka Brian Shelley says, “For someone to pay their bills, feed their family to clothe their children, they need to be in the ball park of $24.60 an hour to make ends meet in Simcoe County.” Shelley says if the affordability gap continues to widen, many people will simply be unable to escape the challenges in coming years. “While we have seen some stabilization in the housing market and rental rates are starting to stabilize a bit, what we are seeing is an incredible escalation in the price of food costs. That’s what’s really driving this cost of living right now in Simcoe County.” The goal of the campaign is to raise $1.16 million and 580 thousand pounds of food. The campaign starts Wednesday and runs until Dec. 31.
