Chatham-Kent's largest food bank is continuing to see many new faces come through its doors.
Outreach for Hunger has seen 258 new people over the last two months, with October alone recording 146 new clients.
This is the biggest monthly increase the food bank has seen since it added 113 new clients back in February.
Over the first eight months of 2026, Outreach for Hunger averaged about 87 new clients a month, far less than September and October.
Brenda LeClair, the Executive Director of Outreach for Hunger, told CK News Today there's no single reason why they're seeing such an increase right now. However, she did explain that many new clients are only working part-time.
"All you need is a few hours reduced at your part-time work, and [there goes] your grocery money," said LeClair.
So far in 2026, Outreach for Hunger has helped 953 new clients. This is added to the roughly 8,800 hampers given out to people and families who previously used the food bank.
Thanks to donations from the community, Outreach for Hunger has never had to turn somebody away.
"Our community has never let us down," added LeClair.
Most of the food bank's shelves are currently full thanks to Ursuline College Chatham's 19th annual Lancers Scare Hunger Food Drive. The fundraising event was able to collect 22 skids of food.
Meanwhile, Outreach for Hunger isn't the only food bank in Ontario seeing an increase in clients.
According to the Salvation Army's 2026 Canadian Poverty and Socioeconomic Analysis, 13 per cent of respondents said they needed help from community food supports in 2026.
"More and more families are struggling; they're waiting until they have absolutely nothing left in their cupboards to put together a decent meal before they have to swallow their pride to come in here," said LeClair.
Over 30 per cent of respondents also claimed that they've skipped or reduced meals because they couldn't afford groceries.
