Who is using the Georgina food pantry? Not who you think.

With the need increasing, there is an influx of community food closets opening in Georgina

Yorkregion.com
Dec. 12, 2019
Amanda Persico

Over the past three years, more and more employed residents are turning to the Georgina Community Food Pantry for support.

In fact, the pantry has seen a 22 per cent increase in residents employed full time and about a 15 per cent increase in residents employed part time using the pantry, said pantry executive director Catherine Cook.

“There’s a lot of temporary employment and residents working multiple jobs,” Cook said. “But the dollar is not stretching as far as it needs to these days.”

What’s happening in Georgina is part of a provincewide trend where employed food bank users are on the rise.

According to the 2019 Hunger Report produced by Feed Ontario, formerly the Ontario Association of Food Banks, employed food bank users have increased by about 27 per cent over the past three years.

Despite the province’s low unemployment rate, employed food bank users is an emerging trend, where those with employment income still cannot make ends meet and require the support of a local food pantry, said Carolyn Stewart, executive director of Feed Ontario.

“This tells us that, while these individuals are working in a full- or part-time position, they have not been able to secure sufficient income to afford all of their basic necessities each month, like rent, heat, hydro or food,” Stewart said.

Hunger Report

The report also outlines the changing demographics in Ontario’s workforce, where adults over the age of 25 hold almost half of all minimum wage jobs. And about a third of those have post-secondary education.

On the other end, seniors over the age of 65 still make up a large portion of the workforce.

According to the latest census data, about one in five Canadians over the age of 65, or about 1.1 million seniors, are still working. And about 30 per cent of those are working full time.

“We’re seeing those earning minimum wage are still not earning enough,” Cook said of Georgina’s users. “We’re also seeing working seniors who are supposed to be in their retirement years but can’t afford to retire.”

Another emerging trend is the influx of local food closets, meal programs and emergency food services associated with churches and community groups throughout Georgina.

At the same time, the number of food pantry users have remained steady, between 700 and 800 residents each month.

“The numbers are the same,” Cook said. “But that doesn’t mean the situation has improved. You could say it’s gotten worse. There are so many food-service programs, we’re just spreading the responsibility.”

Lack of transportation is a huge challenge, despite the free door-to-door services offered by Routes Connecting Communities.

For many in the Keswick area, getting to the food pantry in Sutton can be difficult and accessing meal programs offered at some of the churches in Pefferlaw can be even harder without a vehicle.

The food pantry sees an upswing in all users during the winter months when spending money on food is sacrificed to pay heat and hydro bills.

“This is the time when electrical bills go up,” Cook said. “We heard some residents pay $600 a month just to keep warm.”

Not to mention, this is also a time when a lot of outdoor related jobs are closed for the season and employees are laid off.

According to the Hunger Report, the proportion of workers in a temporary position has increased by about 30 per cent across the province since 1998.

And more than 85 per cent of food bank users across the province are renters or are living in social housing buildings.

Finding affordable housing in the area is a major contributing factor to food bank use across the province, Cook said.

York Region has one of the lowest rental unit supplies available in the GTA. About 14 per cent of its housing stock are rentals.

There are a number of residents in Georgina living in motels until they can secure better housing, Cook said.

“It’s a step away from being homeless,” she said. “It’s expensive to stay warm. There are not enough opportunities for affordable housing.”

Help stock the pantry’s shelves with online donations or non-perishable, unexpired foods items.

Donations can be dropped off Wednesdays between 9:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. at the Georgina Community Food Pantry or any time at the Sutton and Keswick fire halls.

Items in high demand include low-sugar cereals, rice, canned fish, peanut butter and canned vegetables.

For more information, visit georginafoodpantry.com