Lower than normal curbside donations have organizers of the London Cares Curb Hunger Food Drive hoping for a weekend surge of contributions at grocery stores.
As of Wednesday, just under 13,000 lbs of food had been collected, a far cry from the 19,000 lbs that was raised this time last year. In 2016, Londoners donated a total of 43,430 lbs of food to the drive.
"This is an incredibly important drive when it comes to stocking the shelves for the summer months," said Jane Roy, co-executive director of the London Food Bank. "We all kind of shut down in the summer, school is out, people go on holidays. But for folks who are experiencing poverty or are having trouble making ends meet, it is still a tough time. Our numbers at the food bank don't dip, they are incredibly high and stay around 3,500 families a month."
For anyone who forgot to place items for the food bank out with their recycling this week, there is still time and a way to donate.
"More and more people are actually dropping off their donations at grocery stores," said Roy. "We still need a big weekend obviously. We need folks who have missed their zone day pick up to get their donation to the grocery store by Saturday morning."
The current donation tally only takes into account what has been collected curbside, not grocery store and fire halls drop offs.
Some of the different foods needed include pastas and rice, canned vegetables, fruits, stews, and meats, baby food and formula, cereals, and nut butters.
"When you're going grocery shopping you basically buy the same type of things you would buy for yourself. Those who rely on the food bank have the same needs, the same wants," said Roy. "We are constantly talking about trying to get better, more nutritious food as well."
The 21st annual food drive, which kicked off last Friday, also included the new "Grow a Row" initiative. Londoners are asked to sign up to grow an extra row of vegetables in their gardens to be donated to the food bank at harvest time. So far only 30 families have signed up. The city had hoped to get at least 50.
"A lot of people don't tend to sign up, they just tend to bring in. Signing up really helps because then we know what people are doing out there," said Roy. "The easiest way to do it is just to go to our website, follow the link, give us your name and if you want seeds we will get them to you."
Curbside food donation collection continues Thursday in Zone F and Friday in Zone A.
