With the Christmas season approaching and more people using food banks, Gleaners Food Bank in Belleville and Trenton Care and Share Food Bank say they are both preparing for a large influx.
General Manager of Trenton Care and Share Food Bank, Craig Olivier, says use of the food bank is already up from last year.
“We are up in 2023 by 46 per cent compared to 2022 and we might see that go even slightly higher during the holiday season,” Olivier tells Quinte News.
Both food banks say the growing need means looking into expanding the hours of operation in order to meet the demand.
Director of Operations at Gleaners Food Bank, Susanne Quinlan, says she will be bringing a proposal to the Board of Directors at the Gleaners Food Bank.
“We’ve been open 9 a.m. till noon and then Wednesday nights 6 p.m. till 8 p.m.,” Quinlan tells Quinte News.
“I’ll be presenting at the board tonight to change those hours to 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. every day and possibly even another evening shift.”
The new hours would take effect in 2024 if approved by the board.
Olivier tells Quinte News that Trenton Care and Share Food Bank is also considering expanding its hours in order to accommodate the demand.
“We’re getting to the point where we just are having a lot of trouble meeting the demand in the limited hours that we’re open,” Olivier says.
“So we will have to add some additional hours to be able to work with all the people who need our services.”
With a look at expanding hours of operation at the food banks comes the need for more volunteers to accommodate the hours.
“On any given day, we have about 25 people in the building and there’s only a couple people that do two days,” Quinlan said.
“That’s including the drivers, the drivers’ helpers, the people in the warehouse. So yeah, we need more volunteers.”
Both food banks stressed the need for food and people to be able to lend their time to help support them during the holiday season.
“We’re at a time of great need and the community has been responding along with that increase in demand,” Olivier said.
“It’s wonderful to see how everybody is doing their part to try to help support the people in need.”
More information about the Gleaner’s Food Bank as well as the Trenton Care and Share Food Bank can be found at their respective websites.
