Volunteers working for the food program inside serve a hot casserole, some rice, and maybe fruit and yogurt if supplies come through.
Canon Maggie Helwig, who helps run the program out of St. Stephen-in-the-Fields church, said it regularly serves 130 people for dinner on Fridays — compared to the two dozen they saw a few years ago.
On Saturday and Sunday mornings, the lineup for breakfast is even longer — with hundreds of parents, seniors, students, working adults and those who are unemployed.
A few years ago, unemployment was a major factor in the number of people seeking support, as the early months of the pandemic brought the economy to a halt.
The Food Bank of Waterloo Region in Ontario said its annual funding needs to double to more than $1.6 million to keep up as demand reaches a “crisis” level.
Helwig said her church is leaning on donations and food rescue programs to keep the service running, though donors — like consumers — are also struggling to pay grocery bills.
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Volunteers working for the food program inside serve a hot casserole, some rice, and maybe fruit and yogurt if supplies come through.
Canon Maggie Helwig, who helps run the program out of St. Stephen-in-the-Fields church, said it regularly serves 130 people for dinner on Fridays — compared to the two dozen they saw a few years ago.
On Saturday and Sunday mornings, the lineup for breakfast is even longer — with hundreds of parents, seniors, students, working adults and those who are unemployed.
A few years ago, unemployment was a major factor in the number of people seeking support, as the early months of the pandemic brought the economy to a halt.
The Food Bank of Waterloo Region in Ontario said its annual funding needs to double to more than $1.6 million to keep up as demand reaches a “crisis” level.
Helwig said her church is leaning on donations and food rescue programs to keep the service running, though donors — like consumers — are also struggling to pay grocery bills.
The original article contains 867 words, the summary contains 165 words. Saved 81%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!