Hunger in the community is on the rise, and the strain on local food services is becoming unsustainable. OSHaRE, The Salvation Army, Owen Sound, area food banks, meal programs, and the United Way are increasingly struggling to meet the growing needs of families and individuals facing food insecurity. As the holiday season approaches, these organizations are bracing for an even greater challenge, with more people turning to them for help.
“Our community is facing a crisis,” said Francesca Dobbyn, Executive Director of the United Way of Bruce Grey. “Hunger is an income issue, and too many individuals simply cannot make ends meet. Rising living costs have left people unable to provide basic necessities for themselves or their families.”
The issue of hunger goes beyond immediate food needs: it’s a direct consequence of economic inequality. As more people find themselves unable to meet basic needs, services provided by charities are being relied upon as the official safety net. The burden of feeding hungry residents has been downloaded onto charities that are already working at capacity.
“Every day, we see more families needing help. Our resources are stretched,” said Colleen Trask Seaman, Executive Director of OSHaRE. “We are concerned with the growing demand for food support for individuals and families in our community.”
Of programs reporting data to Food Bruce Grey, area meal programs are up 30% from 2023 in the same time frame (January to September).
- OSHaRE has seen an increase of 29% for 2024 compared to the same time frame in 2023.
- OSHaRE’s support for the SOS* lunch has gone from an average of 125 per Market to 198 per Market.
- The Salvation Army Owen Sound is providing over 30,000 lbs (13,610 kgs) of food to families each month.
- The Salvation Army Owen Sound has seen an increase of 20% in the number of individuals supported monthly over the past year.
“We’ve seen a dramatic increase in the number of new families with children seeking the support of our Food Bank,” said Alice Wannan, manager of The Salvation Army Community and Family Services. “We support over 1,300 individuals each month, of which one in three are children from Owen Sound and the surrounding area, and this number continues to grow. We know it’s essential for children to have access to healthy, balanced meals to be successful at school.”
In an effort to address the rising number of families accessing OSHaRE and The Salvation Army Owen Sound, they, along with the United Way, created the Family Assist Market (FAM) where families could attend and sign up for OSHaRE’s Family Meal Support program, reducing the need to attend OSHaRE for daily meals. They could also access an emergency food hamper from The Salvation Army Owen Sound as well as access fresh produce. At the end of September over 100 families had signed up for the Family Assist Program.
Despite adding this new resource, the number of meals OSHaRE served in September was a record breaking 20,476.
OSHaRE continues to provide Owen Sound-area schools with lunches. For the 2023-24 school year they provided 21,287 lunches.
The rising need for assistance is taking a toll on the frontline organizations. United Way and other local agencies are struggling to fund programs that provide essential meals. Volunteers are working tirelessly, but the demands are surpassing available resources.
Charities stepped up and into the crisis during 2020 and 2021, the peak challenging years of the Covid 19 pandemic, but there was a lot of government funding to support those needs. That funding no longer exists, but the need has not gone back to pre-pandemic levels – it continues to climb.
The solution to this crisis cannot be placed solely on charity. Hunger is an outcome of larger systemic issues — issues like insufficient income, unaffordable housing, and lack of accessible support. Charities are an important piece of the puzzle, but without broader action from the community and policy changes to support individuals and families, the struggle will only grow.
“With Christmas around the corner, we’re asking the community to come together,” said Major Jeff Howard, Commanding Officer of The Salvation Army Owen Sound. “We need donations, we need volunteers, but we also need long-term solutions that ensure people can meet their basic needs without relying on charity.”
Local charities are calling on residents to give what they can — whether through donations, volunteering, or raising awareness. It will take a collective effort to support those who are struggling and to remind our government that basic needs should not be left to charities alone.
Grey Bruce Public Health shares the concerns about the increase in local residents and families experiencing food insecurity and reliance on charities to provide basic necessities. The struggles in Grey Bruce are being echoed across Ontario, with 30.7% of children living in food insecure households in 2023, which is 8% more than in 2019 and 2020. Each year, Grey Bruce Public Health monitors food affordability in the region and will soon release its 2024 report. Over the years, this data has shown incomes are not enough to meet basic needs like food and shelter. This is not a problem resolved by food charities. Income-based policies are the most effective way to address food insecurity and our communities need these policies now.
OSHaRE, The Salvation Army, and other area food banks and meal programs provide crucial support to individuals and families facing food insecurity. Together with the United Way, they aim to address the immediate needs of the community while advocating for long-term solutions to poverty and hunger.
