[homeles_ot-l] 9.2% increase FW: HungerCount report released today

[Lynne Browne]

FYI  . . . a 9.2% increase in people using food banks in Canada! 

 

Lynne Browne

Coordinator, Alliance to End Homelessness 

lbrowne at ysb.on.ca <mailto:lbrowne at ysb.on.ca> 

Office: 613-241-1573, ext. 205 

(note this phone # is in use temporarily until Jan 2011 )

Mailing addr: 147 Besserer St., Ottawa, ON K1N 6A7

www.endhomelessnessottawa.ca <http://www.endhomelessnessottawa.ca> 

NOW ATEH is on FACEBOOK HERE
<http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Alliance-to-End-Homelessness-
Ottawa/136029386442398?v=wall&ref=ts>  &

on TWITTER HERE @endhomelessOTT <https://twitter.com/endhomelessOTT> 

________________________________

From: Jennefer Laidley (ISAC) [mailto:laidleyj at lao.on.ca] 
Sent: November 16, 2010 1:24 PM
Subject: HungerCount report released today

 

Food Banks Canada's HungerCount study reports highest level of food bank
use on record

HungerCount 2010 provides unique, essential information on levels of
food bank use in Canada, profiles people in need of food assistance 

To view the social media release, please visit:
http://smr.newswire.ca/en/food-banks-canada/hungercount-study 

OTTAWA, Nov. 16 /CNW/ - The results of the HungerCount 2010 survey
released today show food banks across Canada helped 867,948 separate
individuals in March 2010, an increase of 9.2%, or more than 73,000
people, compared to March 2009. This is 28% higher than in 2008, and is
the highest level of food bank use since 1997. 

Of the 867,948 people helped in March this year, 80,150 - 9.2% of the
total - stepped through the front door of a food bank for the first
time. The survey also shows that food bank use grew in every province in
2010. 

"This is a reality check. Food banks are seeing first hand that the
recession is not over for a large number of Canadians," said Katharine
Schmidt, Executive Director of Food Banks Canada, which coordinated the
annual national study. 

"We are hearing that it is really tough out there," Ms. Schmidt said.
"Many people who lost their jobs during the recession have now exhausted
their unemployment benefits, and are looking to self-employment or to
temporary and part-time jobs for income. Others have been forced to fall
back on social assistance. These options aren't paying the bills, and
people are accessing food banks to fill the gap." 

As in past years, the profile of those assisted by food banks is highly
varied: 

*                 38% of those assisted by food banks are children and
youth under 18 years old.

*                 Half of assisted households are families with
children.

*                 17% of households that turn to food banks for help
each month are living on income from current or recent employment.

*                 7% of assisted households report a pension as their
primary source of income. 

"Coming to a food bank is not an easy decision for people," said Bill
Hall, Executive Director of the Battlefords and District Food and
Resource Centre, in North Battleford, Saskatchewan. "Unfortunately,
there continues to be a need for help in our community, and we have
expanded our efforts to meet that need - when the overall goal should be
to address the causes of hunger more broadly, and to be able to reduce
our services and even close our doors for good." 

"Though the recession has made things worse, the causes of hunger and
low income run much deeper than the recent economic crisis," said Ms.
Schmidt.  "The need for food banks is a result of our failure as a
country to adequately address a number of social issues, including a
changing job market, a lack of affordable housing and child care, and a
social safety net that is ineffective." 

The HungerCount provides recommendations on how the federal government
can work to increase people's ability to be self sufficient. Food Banks
Canada's recommendations include the following: 

1.      Implement a national poverty prevention and reduction strategy,
with measurable targets and timelines.

2.      Create a federal housing strategy to increase and monitor
investment in affordable housing programs in Canada's cities, towns and
rural areas.

3.      Maintain current levels of federal cash and tax transfers to
provincial, territorial, and First Nations governments.

4.      Address the unacceptable rates of low income among our most
vulnerable seniors - those who live alone, without other means of
support. 

About the HungerCount Survey 

HungerCount was initiated in 1989 and is the only comprehensive national
study of food banks and affiliated food programs in Canada. Since 1997,
data for the study have been collected every March. The information
provided by the survey is invaluable, forming the basis of many Food
Banks Canada activities throughout the year. For a full copy of the
HungerCount 2010 report and associated graphics, and for more
information, please visit <http://www.foodbankscanada.ca/>
www.foodbankscanada.ca. 

About Food Banks Canada 

Food Banks Canada is the national charitable organization representing
the food bank community across Canada. Our Members, Affiliate Member
food banks, and their respective agencies serve approximately 85% of
people accessing emergency food programs nationwide. Our mission is to
meet the short-term need for food and find long-term solutions to reduce
hunger. 

 

http://www.cnw.ca/en/releases/archive/November2010/16/c4513.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jennefer Laidley

Interim Research and Policy Analyst

Income Security Advocacy Centre (ISAC)

-------

425 Adelaide Street West, 5th Floor

Toronto, Ontario   M5V 3C1

Phone: 416-597-5820 x 5155

Fax: 416-597-5821

 

ISAC website: www.incomesecurity.org

Social Assistance Review website: www.sareview.ca

 

 

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