ANGUS, Ont. — The Angus Food Bank in this town of about 7,000, about 100 kilometres north of Toronto, has nearly tripled the number of people who depend on it, to more than 250 today from 90 in 2019.
The spike in the number of those needing help reflects a broader financial trend across the country as the cost of living continues to rise.
Food Bank president Heather Morgan said the numbers have been steadily increasing since the pandemic. It's a trend food bank vice president Pauline Saunders says hits working families especially hard.
"It's a hard life for our people that are struggling. The struggle is also with two-income families. Even with two people working, you're still in poverty, that's the sad part," Saunders said.
"We're lucky we're in Angus because it's a very giving community. The community has been supporting us to keep our doors open and running," she said.
Kim McDonald, a food bank volunteer, says government income supplements like the Ontario Disability Support Program and Employment Insurance aren't keeping up with the cost of living.
"If someone's receiving $750 a month, how are they supposed to live on that? If your food inflation is eight per cent and your blended rate is two per cent, well, you're not buying much food," McDonald said.
McDonald says food bank users are very appreciative of the help they receive.
"A new client will come in, finally having the courage, and when we get them the food, they're crying. They're like, 'I haven't had eggs in a month.' It's something you and I might take for granted," she said.
According to Statistics Canada, the unemployment rate for Central Ontario has risen to 6.8 per cent, up from 5.6 per cent at the same time last year.
Essa Township Mayor Sandie Macdonald says people are struggling more because of the "never-ending list of things that are going up.
"I think the increase in food bank usage reflects the stagnant wages and rising costs," Macdonald said.
"It's not just the people that don't have work, it's now the working poor. You have two people in the same house, both working 40 hours a week, and they can barely cover the basic living expenses," she said.
Macdonald said the food bank is leasing a wider space to take in more food than they otherwise would.
"It's also people new to the system that are struggling. They don't know there are other assistance programs, and they just use the food bank," she said.
Macdonald also pointed to community-oriented alternatives to the food bank.
"We have community gardens where you can take crops as you walk by, but we only ask you to do some weeding before you leave. We're going to need more of this. It will be huge to have more community gardens," Macdonald said.
Sara McCullough, a certified financial planner with WD Development, says the rise in food bank usage is a "clear sign" that there's a lot of financial stress in people's lives.
"When people get to that point, it's really hard. There's a lot of shame connected to that. Most of us can get there faster than we believe. We think this only happens to other people," McCullough said.
"Our priorities can get misaligned," she said. "When we're under stress, we cut everything, but sometimes we take on more debt instead."
"We buy an expensive car, or take out lines of credit to buy expensive things. We make fast financial decisions without having the full information," McCullough said.
McCullough says being financially literate is very important.
"You can have the knowledge, but it can still be difficult to apply to your own situation," she said. "I have clients in my practice that are also financial planners, but they want somebody to look at their situation objectively."
"Sometimes we can land ourselves in a worse situation by not asking questions," she said.
The Angus Food Bank is open on Wednesdays and Fridays from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. and is located at 8527 County Rd. 10, in Angus.
