The rising costs of food, rent and general inflation are hitting families hard and increasing the need for food bank support across the country.
Serving roughly 20,000 clients per year, with 33 per cent of them being under the age of 18 each year, the Newmarket Food Pantry has launched its first annual No Gala Gala.
The decision to launch the gala came out of need with an increase of over 70 per cent in the number of community members the food pantry serves, 41 per cent being children under the age of 18, something Adrian Bain, executive director of the food pantry, finds very concerning.
“It’s difficult to plan for the future and fully understand our inventory needs as both food prices and client usage continue to rise,” he said. “We will continue to fight the war on hunger the best we can and ensure everyone in our community does not go to bed hungry, but it’s definitely alarming when we have situations where our donors are now clients, this needs to be a wake-up call for change makers.”
Bain said that the food pantry has never seen numbers quite like this and that the number of children utilizing the food bank has “skyrocketed” from about 33 per cent to more than 40 per cent.
“The trends vary by municipality, province and country as a whole, but from our observations and from what we’ve seen and heard anecdotally, this for the most part is a Canada-wide issue,” he said.
While food banks continue to advocate for change, Bain points to a few policy recommendations that could go a long way.
“A minimum income floor, affordable housing, greater supports for low-income earners,” he said. “ A much stronger social safety net through a dual focus – one that balances the need to reduce the cost of living (increase affordability) while also striving to increase people’s incomes (reduce poverty).”
In the meantime, the No Gala Gala is a unique fundraising event in support of children and youth and their back to school nutritional needs to try and fill the gap the best they can for the time being.
The whole idea behind it is that rather than spend money on attending a big fancy event, donors can save on the night and donate what it would have cost them to attend a gala directly to the food pantry.
“The concept came together during a brainstorming session with a few donors on how to best utilize community monetary donations,” said Bain. “We wanted to figure out how to use the donations in the most impactful and meaningful way possible, while minimizing strain and resources on the pantry.”
The food pantry is leaning into the concept by telling people to “enjoy doing whatever you want instead, knowing you’ve just made an impact,” and “help us provide our community children with healthy foods by not attending the biggest event that’s never going to happen.”
The food pantry is asking supporters to donate money on what gala attendees would have spent on going to a gala. Examples include donating $75 for the hair or makeup appointments you don’t have to do, or $50 for the babysitter you don’t have to get, or $25 for the Uber you don’t have to take.
“A fun innovative event was born with the idea of a traditional gala that would actually not take place, hence saving thousands of dollars in time, resources, and money, which would ultimately go directly to the children and youth instead of being wasted on administration and unnecessary overhead. Donors felt that the greatest thank you we could give them was their time back, by not having to actually attend a gala, but also being able to support a great cause.”
The No Gala Gala, which hopes to raise $30,000, ends on Sept. 2. You can donate here.
