Ottawa Mission needs more donors to keep up with demand

It’s more expensive than ever to put food on the table as the community continues to struggle with rising food costs and inflation.

More are now relying on food banks across the National Capital Region.

Line ups out the door have been seen at facilities such as the Ottawa Mission, but it’s not only people who are struggling to put food on the table.

The Ottawa Mission itself says it's feeling the crunch of inflation while trying to keep up with feeding the most vulnerable.

“Between our several programs, we are feeding 3,000 meals per day,” said Peter Tilley, the Ottawa Mission’s CEO.

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The organization is struggling to keep up with an unprecedented demand from the community that shows no sign of slowing down amid rising food costs and inflation.

“I’m sick and tired of eating Kraft dinner and I’m tired of hot dogs and I’m tired of the food costs,” said Dino Dilabio, who said he can’t afford to buy the food that he wants.

“I can’t afford to buy myself a steak and it would be nice to have it with a potato and corn on a Saturday night.”

The organization’s meals served annually has sky rocked from nearly 500,000 per year to 1,057,489 – a 200 per cent increase.

“It’s costing us a fortune to continue providing food at the level of service that we have been providing over these past few months,” said Tilley.

It means the Ottawa Mission desperately needs donations, which it relies on to cover about 60 per cent of its costs.

Staff say to keep up with the demand, they need hundreds of thousands of dollars in those donations.

Meanwhile, the cost to serve a meal has also risen from just under $5, as more people rely on the service.

“There’s a lot more people here right now and you see families come in with their kids and they just can’t afford food,” said Pierre Collins, a long-time volunteer at the Ottawa Mission.

Staff do remain confident that regular donors will come through to ensure no one goes hungry.

Those looking to make monetary donations to the Ottawa Mission can visit https://ottawamission.com for more information.