Surge in demand for Easter food aid highlights growing need in Chatham-Kent

As Easter approaches, many families are asking for help. FreeHelpCK is calling for assistance feeding the community. CTV Windsor’s Chris Campbell has more.

A local grassroots group is scaling up efforts to provide Easter meals in Chatham-Kent, as new municipal data points to a sharp rise in homelessness and housing need across the community.

FreeHelpCK says it plans to distribute at least 100 food boxes this Easter — five times its original goal — after receiving more than 400 requests for help.

“We posted on our social media and we ended up with over 400 people,” said founder Geri Hughson. “So we decided we can’t do 20. We need to do 100.”

Hughson said the increase is being driven largely by the rising cost of living, particularly food prices, with many of those seeking help now coming from working households.

“It’s working people,” she said. “They’re working and they just want to have a good Easter.”

She told CTV News that after covering rent, utilities and other essentials, many families are left struggling to afford groceries.

“The next thing they’re looking at is food. And that’s what they’re lacking.”

The effort has drawn support from local businesses, which Hughson says have stepped up with donations to help fill the boxes with staple items.

“We’ve had businesses reach out and they’re buying 100 of different items to put in them,” she said, adding the boxes are intended to provide enough food for several days.

Registration for the program opens March 24, with the first 100 applicants able to receive a box, either through pickup in Chatham or delivery in outlying areas. Hughson said she hopes additional donations could allow the group to expand beyond that number.

“You never know,” she said. “We’re going to hope that maybe the community steps up — we can do more.”

For some residents, the support has proven critical.

Robert Rader, who recently moved to Chatham-Kent after a difficult period, said FreeHelpCK helped him get back on his feet.

“I definitely needed the help,” he said. “I don’t know if I’d be where I am today without her help.”

Rader described the organization as “an absolute lifeline,” adding he believes many others are struggling amid current economic pressures.

“I don’t mean to be a pessimist, but things haven’t gotten better lately,” he said. “There’s definitely a need.”

The growing demand for food support comes as Chatham-Kent council is set to review several reports on housing and homelessness Monday night.

According to one report, an average of 34 individuals entered homelessness each month in 2025, underscoring what officials describe as a need for more emergency shelter spaces and housing options.

Ward 6 Coun. Alysson Storey said the reports point to what staff have described as a “health and homelessness crisis” in the municipality.

“We are talking about the exponential rise in homelessness, the extremely worrying backlog of wait-lists, and affordable and rent-geared-to-income housing,” Storey said.

She described the situation as a “perfect storm,” with increasing homelessness, encampments and financial strain affecting residents across the community.

“The need has grown so exponentially the last couple of years,” she said, adding it is becoming “very, very acute here in Chatham-Kent and it is deeply worrying.”

Storey said existing supports are falling short of what is needed, pointing to stagnant provincial assistance rates that do not reflect current housing and living costs.

“Not by a long shot,” she said. “The current amounts … are nowhere near the amounts that most people need just to survive.”

She added municipalities are increasingly being forced to take on responsibilities beyond their traditional scope, calling for greater support from senior levels of government.

“We are in an absolute crisis situation,” Storey said. “We need to make tough decisions and redirect the limited financial resources we have … towards helping those who need it.”

Storey also credited community organizations like FreeHelpCK for helping fill gaps on the front lines.

“We could not do the work that we do as a municipality without the frontline organizations,” she said. “They’re doing the heavy lifting.”

Hughson said collaboration between local groups will be key to meeting demand moving forward.

“If we all work together … instead of 100 families, maybe there’s 200 that are getting it,” she said.