Food banks grappling with rising demand, inflation ahead of Thanksgiving

Staggering inflation rates have driven up demand for food bank services in Canada while diminishing the buying power of donation dollars.

Simon Malsi hopes to pick up a few extra hours of work on Thanksgiving Day to help him afford to put a holiday meal on the table.

The personal support worker said he’s been trying to secure more shifts to make ends meet as his family strains to keep up with the soaring cost of living in north Toronto.

Even with his wife’s part-time wages, Malsi said rent, gas and groceries have become so expensive that it’s a struggle to keep his two-year-old son and five-year-old daughter well fed.

There are plenty of other families in the same position this holiday season, say food bank workers, as staggering inflation rates drive up demand for their services while diminishing the buying power of their donation dollars.

Malsi turned up at the North York Harvest Food Bank for the first time Tuesday with a plaid plastic bag as volunteers helped him pick out items from the shelves.

For a family of four, a standard haul might include four packs of instant dry noodles, a jar of peanut butter, two cans of tuna, two bags of lentils, two packs of spaghetti, a carton of milk, a box of yogurt, a smattering of fresh vegetables and a few other staples.

The supplies are meant to last three days, but many families stretch them out for longer.

Malsi said he hopes the supplemental food may leave enough room in his budget to buy a barbecued chicken for Thanksgiving dinner.