'Every year it astounds me': Decade long food drive closes 2024 on high note

Volunteers spent Tuesday unloading truckloads of food from this year’s CKNX Relief Food Drive. It’s the tenth year for the ever-important food and fund raiser for the North Huron Community Food Share, Salvation Army Wingham, Huron County Food Distribution Centre, and Walkerton Food Bank.

“This is our biggest food drive. It is the one we put the most work into, and it is the one that provides for us the rest of this year,” said Relief Truck organizer and North Huron Food Share Coordinator, Roxane Nicholson.

Never in the 10 years of the winter food drive have these donations of food been more important. When they started parking and packing trucks at local grocery stores back in 2014, the North Huron Food Share was spending $5,000 per month on food – last year they spent $17,000 per month.

Volunteers with the North Huron Community Food Share unload food donations from the biggest food and fundraiser for the food bank, the CKNX Relief Food Drive in Wingham on December 3, 2024 (Scott Miller/CTV News London)

“The demand has more than doubled.I think the number that got me this week was from 2022 – that we were serving here at our food share 80 children on average in a month, and it is now up to 182. So, to think in two years that we're providing for 100 more children, that translates over into every age group,” said Nicholson.

That’s Huron County wide, even in places like Bayfield – where one might not think there would be as much need for a foodbank, demand is increasing.

“At this time last year, there were 66 clients, and now we have 91, and it keeps going up every week,” said Bayfield Food Bank Coordinator, Claire Trepanier.

While food donations appear to be keeping pace, there’s concern that all charities financial donations will take a hit due to the ongoing postal strike.

Volunteers with the North Huron Community Food Share unload food donations from the biggest food and fundraiser for the food bank, the CKNX Relief Food Drive in Wingham on December 3, 2024 (Scott Miller/CTV News London)

“We get a lot of mail throughout the year from folks sending in donations. So, to have this going on right now during our biggest campaign, is a little disheartening,” she said.

Nicholson said just when she thinks they can’t keep up with the ever increasing demand, the North Huron community steps up, with donations to keep the food flowing to the region’s less fortunate.

“When we started this campaign ten years ago, we were seeing around 110 to 130 families in a month. Now we are seeing closer to 250 families here at our food share in a month. So, that takes a lot more food to make that happen, and a lot more money to make the grocery shopping happen that we need to do here month to month,” she said.

“This community keeps rallying to keep us at the same status of what we can give out. So, we appreciate that – every year it astounds me, the new people that join in on and are donating, the different businesses that jump in to help out. Every year, as the need has grown, so has the community's help to us,” said Nicholson.