Need, criteria exist at food bank
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Tillsonburg Helping Hand Food Bank Coordinator Joan Clarkson would like the community to know two things.
In the first place, there is need, not just at Christmas, and not just during Hunger Awareness Week that just passed.
“All year round,” she said Friday morning at the Tillsonburg Resource Network’s Bring It In drive-through food drive at the Livingston Centre. “I would say we’re probably 2,000 pounds a month over what we did last year.
“The need is there and for a longer time.”
Secondly, Clarkson would like to clear up any misconceptions about how collected food is distributed.
“There is definitely criteria,” she emphasized. “People just don’t come in and ask for food.”
A supportive community’s generosity is appreciated, and the responsibility of ensuring it is shared appropriately is one taken very seriously, says Clarkson.
“We’re very aware it is donated and we handle it very carefully, we just don’t hand it out willy-nilly. We want it to go the right way.”
Those working at a food bank become only too aware of the need in a community, says Clarkson.
“You can recognize the face of hunger.”
But due diligence means recipients must provide proof of ID, proof of residence and contemporary financial information such as income versus rent/hydro bills, etc., proof of need that can be tough to admit to.
“It’s very hard for a lot of people,” said Clarkson.
Those numbers provide a basis for calculations which says Clarkson, can reveal how fine a line some families are operating on.
“After expenses, very often people are left with $100 or $150 to live for the month.”
A recent study suggests 13% of people are living with low income or in poverty, said Salvation Army Community Ministries Coordinator Donna Acre.
“One in seven kids go hungry.”
Part of the food bank’s efforts are to provide not only nutritious lunches for children in need, but lunches ‘that look like other kids’ lunches,’ said Clarkson.
It also offers ‘helping those who help themselves’ contact information for initiatives including the Tillsonburg Resounce Network’s cooking without the box seminars and community garden project.
“It’s not just a place to distribute food, it’s a place where people can get help,” said Clarkson.
Tillsonburg’s Helping Hand Food Bank distributes over 100,000 pounds of food annually, she added, a total that will only face upward pressure, not so much in numbers, but due to rising food prices. The need is great, but traditionally so too has been the response of a community whose generosity is never taken for granted.
“It’s wonderful,” Clarkson concluded. “Just about everyone knows somebody that is struggling – we’re here to help those people.”