Despite an increasing demand for its services, the Food Bank of York Region has had to make cutbacks due to a decline in donations and funding, its CEO says.
The organization said donations have been declining for more than a year, along with losing out on a grant from the Regional Municipality of York, which has resulted in cutbacks in service on weekends and reducing staff.
Food Bank of York Region founder and CEO Alex Bilotta said they have never had to cut back before, only expanding services to meet the need.
“It’s very disturbing,” he said. “Although the need is going even much higher, we’re not able to meet the need.”
The organization distributes food throughout the region to local shelters and food pantries.
The regional food bank is reporting a 23.6 per cent increase in client usage in 2024. At the same time, however, Bilotta said while food donations are being made, financial donations have dried up somewhat.
“There’s a lot of food out there. Food is not the problem. It’s the financial support that we saw last year going down,” he said. “We just felt that trend would continue in 2025. Considering our long-term goals, and considering our long-term sustainability, we decided to cut programs and services."
Compounding that was a loss of funding from York Region, Bilotta said. While the food bank has regularly succeeded in applying for regional grants worth more than $100,000, that funding did not come this past year.
“It was important,” Bilotta said, adding that while regional councillors sought a food hub years ago, “12 years later, they’ve abandoned it..”
NewmarketToday did not receive a reply to a request for comment from York Region before the publication deadline.
The organization is calling on York Region to declare a food insecurity crisis and to assist with additional funding. It cited Mississauga and other municipalities making such declarations and bumping food bank funding by millions.
“The Food Bank of York Region is calling on York Region to follow suit and re-establish their regional funding program that will support the food bank in reducing food loss and waste, enhancing nutrition, preparing and responding to the current food insecurity crisis, and addressing child hunger,” the organization said.
“Our focus is going to have to shift to fundraising instead of programs and services,” Bilotta added.
