The Inn of the Good Shepherd is hoping to restock the shelves at its food bank.
The annual Thanksgiving Fall Food Drive kicks off the first week of October.
Executive Director Myles Vanni said demand for help right now is high, and unfortunately donations have slowed down.
"It's an important food drive for us because part of it is helping to replenish the shelves from a very slow summer," said Vanni. "Very few donations come in over the summer and we purchase a lot, more than we used to. So, Thanksgiving is going to help us get the shelves restocked and get us through to Christmas time."
He said the food bank used to spend about $2,000 a month on food before the pandemic. That's now up to about $30,000 a month.
The latest Feed Ontario report released last month said over one million people in Ontario visited a food bank last year, up 134 per cent from 2019-2020.
Vanni said they've definitely had more people and families turning to the food bank for assistance as food prices climb higher.
"And that makes it more difficult for people on limited incomes, with part-time jobs, to make those ends meet," he said. "We're seeing about a 20 per cent increase in people accessing the food bank, and yet at the same time food donations have dropped about 20 per cent, as people who would normally donate, their food budgets are pinched too and they just don't have that extra money. So, it's getting pretty critical."
Local residents will be getting a paper donation bag in the mail.
"It makes it real easy," said Vanni. "It has a list of things that are most needed, throw them in the bag and leave them at the grocery store or at the firehall, or drop them off at the Inn anytime."
Donations can be dropped off until October 18.