It's always busy season at the Flamborough Food Bank.
At 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, the parking lot at the Carlisle United Church was half-full as about a dozen families waited in the lobby to pick up their bi-weekly groceries from volunteers.
Jacelyn Chilvers, one of two employees at the food bank, said she has seen the need in the community grow in the two years she has been with the organization.
"Each week we see roughly 150 clients," she said.
Most of those clients are families or senior citizens from Flamborough, but Chilvers said some clients come from Hamilton, where food banks are often slammed every week.
"We're finding a lot of people are coming from Hamilton," she said. "You can come here every two weeks. In Hamilton, I believe, it's almost every two months. It's so busy over there."
Certain programs, like the children's backpack program and the diaper program, are reserved for Flamborough residents because of high demand.
The Flamborough Food Bank has about 90 volunteers who pick up, prep, organize and hand out donations. Chilvers said that community support is essential.
The food bank was started in 1992 by the Carlisle United Church, as a way to support residents that lived in a nearby trailer park. In the past 30 or so years, the food bank has grown to meet the needs of a community that seems to need it now more than ever.
"We're in an affordability crisis right now," Chilvers said. "The stigma of food banks is not what it was anymore."
How to access the Flamborough Food Bank
FlamboroughToday visited the Flamborough Food Bank to lend a hand on Wednesday morning.
Visitors stopping by for groceries sit in a little waiting room with coffee and a washroom. To visit the Flamborough Food Bank, you must sign in and be a Flamborough or Hamilton resident.
In the waiting room, there is a large shelf with unlimited donations for the public. Jars of peanut butter, bags of dry pasta and potatoes were available for clients.
About eight volunteers run the food bank from 9 a.m. to 8p.m. The food bank is only open on Wednesdays, with other days of the week devoted to organizing donations and restocking shelves.
The food bank has a handful of shopping carts that are pre-filled with canned food, veggies, milk and eggs.
This week, volunteers fill the carts with a can of beans, a can of Alpha-ghetti, a can of tuna, a can of vegetables, four soft drinks, four snack-sized bags of chips, a Mr. Noodles instant ramen, a loaf of bread, two bags of milk, a carton of eggs, three apples, five potatoes, two packages of frozen meat, two packs of cucumbers, two cobs of corn, a pack of snap peas, and a box of Kraft Dinner.
The food bank sees a rotating schedule of visitors every two weeks, and splits these groups into Group A and Group B. The groups get different items in their carts.
Chilvers said the food bank had to split its visitors into bi-weekly groups because of the high demand.
The food bank offers school snacks for kids — four granola bars, a Bear Paw, and sometimes Rice Krispie squares, depending on the child's dietary restrictions. Volunteers ask clients if they need halal or vegetarian options.
Flour, sugar and instant coffee are pre-portioned into Ziploc bags for anyone who wants them. Dog and cat food are also available, along with a second shelf of items where visitors can take what they need.
The volunteers work together to guide a steady stream of visitors, pre-fill carts and make sure all of their clients have what they need.
Once a month, volunteers will give out toiletries like shampoo, deodorant and other self-care products.
Need growing in community
When FlamboroughToday visited, people from all walks of life waited their turn for groceries at the food bank. Some visitors were regulars and joked around with volunteers, while some looked upset at using the bank's resources.
Volunteer Luc Lalonde kept things lighthearted in the food bank's lobby, greeting everyone with a smile.
He said he has been helping out for almost a year.
"The people that come in just brighten my day," he said. "They appreciate us so much. I look forward to coming in."
He said he brings his teenage children along with him once a week to help package some of the food items, like coffee and sugar, together. He hopes that bringing them to the food bank to help out teaches them to give back to their community and to understand the need that exists in Flamborough.
"There is a large amount of new registrations. There is a demand and that demand appears to be increasing," he said.
Andrea McComb said she has been volunteering with the food bank since her old workplace helped put Christmas hampers together last year. When she began helping, she said it was eye-opening that Flamborough, which is a relatively affluent area, had such a high number of people who needed the food bank.
"There's so many people that still need help," she said.
McComb pointed out that donations often come in bulk around the holidays, like Thanksgiving and Christmas, but the need is greatest outside of those seasons, when less people are donating.
"By Easter, our shelves are empty," she said.
Community members can donate at the Waterdown Fortinos or Sobeys, or at Griffin Furniture on Griffin Street.
On Aug. 28 and Sept. 4, the food bank will also give out backpacks with school supplies to Flamborough residents in need.
