Londoners are once again being asked to help those in need.
The ‘London Cares Curb Hunger Food Drive’ was launched Wednesday at an event at Covent Garden Market. It's the 20th edition of the drive.
Food Bank co-director Glen Pearson knows the value of this food drive, especially at this time of year.
"This food drive is so important because this is the one that gets us through the summer,” Pearson says. “That's necessary because there usually aren't food drives during the summer."
The growing need for food drives in the community can be attributed to a few factors affecting different demographics, according to Pearson.
"We've had a lot of unemployment in London. It's been difficult. A lot of students are having trouble making ends meet, so they come to the food bank. The Syrian refugees, the amount of seniors coming to us now who have been on fixed pensions, that is beginning to increase,” he says. “So we're seeing kind of across the board, in all of these different sectors, an increase in people coming."
The process is as simple as possible, with donations being accepted alongside neighborhood recycling pickup.
"It comes right to their curb. The police often go around the communities, to make sure it's secure,” says Pearson.
But if you happen to miss that curbside pickup, the usual spots are still open.
"Just go to any grocery store, we have bins there, or any fire station. There's 14 around town, and just drop it off there sometime during the week,” Pearson says.
As a founding member of the Food Bank, Pearson is glad to see the community looking deeper into the issues of hunger.
"I really feel something is shaking, something is beginning to work. Where people are beginning to say, 'are food drives the way we always want to go when people are hungry, Or can we find a way to help them so they don't fall into hunger in the first place?' And that seems to be where the attention is getting to right now. I feel a lot of hope right now."
The food drive runs from June 10-18, with all non-perishable foods being accepted. All donations will go directly to the food bank, which will distribute the resources to charitable agencies and individuals in need.
**this story was written by Samuel Gallant. Samuel is a student in the Fanshawe College broadcast journalism program. He is performing a summer internship with Blackburn News.**
