By Steven Smeall
A full plate of nutritious food in front of you every night for supper. It’s something that most of us take for granted every night, and for a percentage of people in Ottawa, that luxury is something they can only wish for.
Thankfully for those people, there are options out there for them so they don’t go hungry.
According to data collected by the Ottawa Food Bank in 2012, on average, 48,000 individuals took food handouts from the organization per month between the years 2011-2012. With the ever-increasing prices of food in grocery stores, some people are forced to take the option of taking food from the food bank.
Erin Wolfe is one of the people who had to use the food bank at one point in her life. She recalls the experience as a positive one.
“When I used the food bank the process was very simple,” said Wolfe. “I went in with proof that I’m on welfare and answered a couple questions.”
The process is left simple so that the Ottawa Food Bank can make sure that as few people in Ottawa as possible go hungry.
However, the amount of food distributed by the Ottawa Food Bank has decreased since 2011, and there are still many people relying on the food they supply and the programs that they offer.
The 2011-2012 data collected by the Food Bank shows 7.2 million pounds were distributed to people while in 2010-2011 8.1 million pounds were sent out.
The question is with the Food Bank being more important to Ottawa than ever now, why the decrease in distribution over the two years?
Throughout Ontario the hunger count (the number of people assisted by the food bank) has been decreasing. In March 2012 404,000 people were assisted and in March 2013 that number shrunk to 376,000.
Unfortunately for Ottawa, they have not been following this provincial average. In March 2012 Ottawa saw 30,474 people assisted and the next year that number increased to 30,961.
Despite the increase, this number is still far below the average per month seen the year before. This could be due to the increase in number of people assisted through the colder months.
“While hunger isn’t seasonal and the Ottawa Food Bank is needed all year-round, there is a spike in usage in the Winter months, specifically near the end of the season,” said Samantha Ingram, communications coordinator for the Ottawa Food Bank.
“Those months carry with them really high bills – heating, gas, electricity, etc. So at the end of the day, it can be difficult to make ends meet and thus more people need to turn to their local community food program for that little extra help.”
The Food Bank is ready to fight the increasing numbers with its multiple programs.
The Ottawa Food Bank is well known for the many programs that it offers to Ottawa residents. Nine programs were offered throughout 2012.
The Ottawa Food Bank’s main program is the Hunger at Home program which consists of distributing food to its member agencies located around the city.
Another main program is the Kickstart school breakfast and after school snack program which supplies food to 46 local schools for its students.
“The programs differ as they are all different sizes and different types of programs,” said Ingram. “There are some programs that distribute groceries to those in need and they serve a large number of people in their communities.”
Many people throughout the city rely on the Food Bank and its many programs, which is why they are always looking for donations.
The Ottawa Food Bank receives most of its donations through partnerships with third party organizations throughout the city. Some of the most notable organizations in the city such as the Ottawa Senators and OC Transpo host food drives during the year to help raise funds.
Over two dozen other events/programs take place throughout the year in an effort to get food donations and raise money for the Ottawa Food Bank.
Helping host all of these food drives and programs would be a lot of work for the organization. Thankfully, the Ottawa Food Bank is one of the top organizations when it comes to volunteer involvement.
Throughout 2011-2012, volunteers donated a total of 21,030 hours of their time to the Food Bank. A total of 16,990.5 hours was donated by volunteers inside food warehouses or with transportation, adding up to be 80 per cent of the total hours.
“I’ve always given either time or money to the Ottawa Food Bank, so for about the last 15 years,” said event volunteer Collette Lachance.
Other categories volunteers often frequented in were community harvest, events, board/committee and administration.
“I think overall families and people need help,” said Lachance. “Eating is a necessity and with the cost of living going up, it just helps them when they have a place to go to help fill those gaps.”
One of the examples of this outpour of volunteers was seen on Dec. 9, the day of the annual OC Transpo/Loblaws Food Drive.
“I’ve been doing the OC Transpo/Loblaws food drive for the past seven years now,” said event organizer Marie Pander. “It’s important to volunteer because a lot of people need the food bank this time of year and it’s a good community project to get involved in.”
Through the volunteer work that went into staffing and promoting the event, the food drive proved to be very successful.
The food drive received 182,000 pounds of food in donations and $21,600. These are just the results from one food drive in Ottawa. There are many food drives that occur throughout the year, hinting at how many donations must come in throughout the year.
What drives people to donate their time to the Ottawa Food Drive though?
“You get to meet-and-greet people and help raise donations for a great cause,” said Pander. “There’s a lot of people out there who really need it this time of year, especially with today’s economy with people losing their jobs and having trouble finding new jobs.”
“A lot of people are in need of the food bank. Lots of people are going through hard times. There are people even in the high-tech industry losing their jobs so they rely on the food bank to help feed their children and families.”
Food is distributed to many centres throughout the city and handed out to those people of need. Through fundraising the Food Bank is able to continue with their programs.
The biggest portion of that distributed food is canned goods. Canned foods took up a massive 22 per cent of distributions through 2011-2012. That’s 1.6 million pounds of canned goods distributed throughout the city in one year.
In 2010-2011 it was also the leader of the pack, but only being 21 per cent of distribution that year, with 1.7 million pounds of canned goods being distributed.
This shows the decrease in food distribution from one year to the next is very noticeable. The breads, cereal, and grain category had the biggest drop between the two years. Between 2010-2011 the Ottawa Food Bank was able to distribute 1.4 million pounds while the next year they were only able to ship out 1.2 million pounds, showing a 200,000 pound decrease in distribution.
Between 2011 and 2012 there were 30 community food banks that relied on the Food Bank’s distributions. Along with these community food banks there are many food cupboards, meal and multi-service programs throughout the city.
While the decrease in distributions may be concerning, the Ottawa Food Bank believes that it is a positive. On October 1st 2011, Quebec-based food programs were fully supported by the Maisson Outaouais, the largest food warehouse in Gatineau. Prior to this the Ottawa Food Bank played a crucial role in the Outaouais community, and now their sole focus will be on Ottawa communities and programs.
2011-2012 saw distribution increases in fresh vegetable, frozen meat, and dairy. Dairy products made up 16 per cent of the Food Bank’s distribution, which is the same percentage of bread, cereal, and grain donations. Fresh Harvest and produce each make up 13 per cent of distributions as well.
Most of these areas were higher in 2010-2011. Dairy products made up only 14 per cent of distributions while fresh harvest and produce were 11 and 12 per cent respectively.
The Food Bank may be lacking in some categories, but they make sure to have enough of the basics to supply all who need.
“When I went they gave me all of the basics that I could think of,” said Wolfe. “They gave me milk, bread, soups, margarine, eggs, and fresh fruits and vegetables. They made sure that everyone was happy and gave anything else they may have received as donations recently.”
One of the smallest categories of distribution for the Food Bank was in snacks and soft drinks, being only 6 per cent of distribution, as the Food Bank attempts to promote healthy eating with their donations.
While seeing an increase in frozen meat distributions, frozen meat still only made up seven per cent of the distribution through the year. The Food Bank also handed out baby supplies, which made up a small three per cent of the distribution throughout the year.
In the 2010-2011 year, snacks and soft drinks made up eight per cent of the distribution throughout the year, as did frozen meats. Baby supplies remained at three per cent. As the Food Bank focused on a more healthy selection throughout the year, these categories were expected to drop.
The Ottawa Food Bank relies on donations to be able to function the way that it does. Thankfully between 2011-2012 many donations were received. Throughout the year the Food Bank received $799,634 in general donations while they received another $343,145. The total revenue throughout the year was $3.65 million.
“The Ottawa community is so generous with time, food, and money,” said Ingram. “We’re a $3.6 million dollar organization and 10 per cent of that comes from a grant from the City of Ottawa.”
The year prior the Food Bank saw less revenue, mainly in their special events and other revenues where they only received $631,693. The various other revenue outlets all totaled up to be about the same as they were the year after.
In 2010-2011 the Food Bank used $1.26 million of its revenue to purchase food for its various programs. Salaries for contract workers took up another $1.23 million throughout the year. The Food bank also spends money on making sure the residents of Ottawa hear about the various events that they are hosting. They spent $391,834 to promote their events and fund-raising.
Throughout the entire year, the organization was able to turn over to the next year with a profit of $805. That would not be the case going into the next year.
The Food Bank spent less on buying food that year, only using $1.23 million of their profit for food purchases. However, many other categories saw an increase throughout the year.
With either more staff or staff getting higher pay, the Food Bank spent $1.33 million paying their contract workers. They also spent almost an extra $100,000 on rent and operations, resulting in a cost of $550,297. Promotion costs totaled up to be $481,309 while miscellaneous costs totaled $98,300.
Due to this spending, the Food Bank ended the year with a loss of $30,919.
Despite the loss of money, the outpour of volunteers show that the Ottawa Food Bank will be able to continue to supply the people who require the help, no matter the level of need.
“I think it’s a great cause for the community,” said Pander. “A lot of people need the food banks at all times of the year.”
The Ottawa Food Bank plays one of the biggest roles as a charity in this city.
Through their work, they are fighting to make sure nobody in Ottawa goes without a full plate of food.
Below, is my fusion table map (of food bank use by province)
Data (for the map ) was collected for the fusion table from the following link: