‘The public has given more’: Donations are up at London Food Bank, hopes that will continue through the weekend

London Food Bank continues to ask for donations for Thanksgiving Drive as unprecedented demand surges. CTV’s Gerry Dewan reports.

Leadership at the London Food Bank report the Thanksgiving Food Drive is on a good trajectory, but stress it is important people continue to give.

On Friday morning, Caitlin Sroka and her two children dropped off a donation. The food was from a drive put on by the St. Mark Catholic School Council. Sroka praised students and their families for their effort.

“There’s 435 students at the school and they came together and donated 927 pounds of food,” she said.

For Sroka, it was also an important lesson for her kids, 8-year-old Kinley and 6-year-old Caleb.

It’s a message she sent as they prepared their own contribution.

“They realized how lucky we are when we opened up our pantry and there was lots of food to choose from. So, it’s nice to be able to pass that on to those who aren’t quite as fortunate,” Sroka added.

“I think that awareness is important,” said Food Bank Co-Director Jane Roy.

“And then the call to action, which is that we as citizens can do something about it.”

This year’s Thanksgiving Food Drive is up over 10 per cent when compared to the same time last year. Roy noted that inflation and economic uncertainties make that number even more impressive.

“When the public does give more, it’s actually costs them more because food costs more. So, we know that we might be up 10 per cent in poundage, but that actually has meant the public has given more as well.”

Roy is hoping governments at all levels learned lessons from the impacts of the pandemic, supply chain related inflation, and the U.S. tariffs.

She said it’s imperative they respond quickly and effectively to reduce the impacts of major economic shifts.

“We help people in a moment. But the ability for the different levels of government to respond in emergencies, the way that they can and be a little bit more nimble and then work together,” she said.

“The more that they can work together, the better it is for all of us. Oftentimes the three levels of government are at cross-purposes a little bit. The more that they can work together, the better it is for all of us.”

The food drive runs through Monday Oct.13 with drop off boxes available at local grocery stores. Financial donations can be made through the London Food Bank website.