Reliance on Food Bank Becoming a Way of Life and for 40 years, the Agapè Centre has been providing food to people in extreme need which is now becoming an everyday part of life for many people. Where once we catered to people in crisis, now we’re seeing more and more people facing hardships and demand for our services continues to increase every year. No one uses a food bank because they want to – they use it because they need to. Food bank clients continue to struggle and many people cannot survive by piecing together part-time jobs when you have a family to support or rent to pay.
Increased Demands
In the past 12 months, the Agapè Centre has provided 165,000 emergency food bank meals and served over 34,000 lunches in our soup kitchen. We provide food to people who have exhausted every other avenue. With the increased demands, there have been many times where our food stocks become critically low and we are exploring ways to alleviate this. However, our situation is quite desperate as we do not receive any government funding and rely only on the community to help us with the funds, food and clothing to continue to serve those in need.
People Come From All Walks of Life
Our Centre does have a strict process where people need to show us proof of need. I would find it quite a humbling experience to go to a food bank. People who come here do not want to be here. They come because their children are hungry; their partner lost their job; they are unable to work because they are suffering from depression; they are alone and single and do not have enough left over to buy food. Those are just a few reasons why people come here.
It’s sad to see when I am out in my community and people tell me they wouldn’t donate to the Agapè Centre. I encourage those people to come and take a tour of our organization. Sit down on the benches and see the children that come in with their mothers. Take a long look around and notice the clients that come here to the Centre. Bad times, bumps in the road, crisis can happen to any one of us.