By Fatima Raza, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, TheIFP.ca
With Thanksgiving just around the corner, the Georgetown Bread Basket (GBB) is reeling in community support to make sure everyone has a full plate for the holiday dinner.
The food bank’s Thanksgiving campaign is calling for donations to gather items like gravy, boxed stuffing, cranberry sauce and boxed potatoes — all of which are great sides for the holiday dinner. The turkeys thus far have been generously donated by local businesses and alternative options are available for those with special dietary needs.
Anette Walker, food director at GBB, said the fully volunteer-run food bank feeds at least 700 people every month.
“That’s 100 per cent because the community rallies together and purchases the items that we were looking for,” Walker said. “We are eternally grateful and very thankful for the community support. Without the people of Georgetown, the Georgetown Bread Basket wouldn’t exist.”
Despite the year-long generosity, however, the food bank typically sees a “very sharp decrease” in donations over the summer, Walker said.
In an email to the IFP, Corina Pries, treasurer at GBB, said donations are not keeping up with demand. The GBB’s food purchases were tripled last year as compared to 2022. Money spent on food purchases has increased from $67,000 to $200,000, she said.
“It’s amazing when the community buys and donates the items that we’re looking for but those items get taken off the shelf almost as fast as they come in,” Walker said.
In an attempt to tackle that decline this year, the food bank launched its new Amazon wish list program, which Walker said has been hugely successful.
For the food bank’s Thanksgiving campaign, Walker said that the wish list has helped gather the essential items ahead of the holiday in a very efficient and convenient manner.
“People are very receptive to the ease of purchasing through our Amazon wish list and it also allows us to target exactly what we’re looking for,” she said.
Pries added that there has also been a 78-per-cent increase in visits to the food bank in the last two years and a 144-per-cent increase in new clients.
Over 250 volunteers help GBB by taking on a wide variety of tasks from shopping with clients on the food bank’s open days, doing grocery shopping for various necessary items, or organizing and shelving donated produce.
The food bank is open to the residents of Georgetown, Norval, Hornby, and Limehouse. To register as a client, you need to provide identification for all family members in your household and proof of your current address.
As of October, the food bank is currently in most need of baby wipes, boxed potatoes, canned pasta, cranberry sauce, flakes of ham, turkey, and chicken, Hamburger Helper, instant coffee and tea, jam or jelly, one-litre juice and juice boxes, pasta, salt, size seven diapers and sugar.
Additionally, the food bank is also accepting canned fruit and applesauce, canned or dry gravy, canned vegetables, cookies, ketchup, mayonnaise, microwave popcorn, pancake syrup, pudding cups, salad dressing, saltine crackers and tomato paste.
A full list of other items and products that are not needed, or not accepted, can be found on the food bank’s website.
Donations can be made straight to the food bank during business hours or at designated donation bins located in The Real Canadian Superstore, Metro, Food Basics, FreshCo, Walmart, and Georgetown Market Place (centre court).
“Georgetown is phenomenally generous and always responds when we do a shout out or ask for a specific item. They continually fill our shelves,” Walker said.
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