Ingersoll's foodbank usage triples as community grapples with CAMI plant fallout

Staff and volunteers at Ingersoll’s main food bank are doing their best to keep up with increased demand but say that demand will grow as the uncertainty over the town's auto assembly plant ripples through the local economy.

“The need has grown a lot, and we have a huge number of new faces coming in,” said Lovish Sharma, the community ministries coordinator with the local Salvation Army. “More families are coming in looking for that support.” 

Located in downtown Ingersoll, the Salvation Army is the town’s primary foodbank. It offers a grocery-style selection of food, and is open twice a week by appointment to the public. It also stocks emergency food kits with non-perishables for drop-in users in urgent need of supplies to get themselves through to the next day. 

Sharma has seen the demand for all services increase since the COVID-19 pandemic, from approximately 12 appointments per week to nearly 50.  

Now there's a new uncertainty that hovers over the town. In October, General Motors confirmed it will end production of its BrightDrop electric delivery cans at the town's CAMI Assembly plant.

The plant was once considered the cornerstone of Ontario’s electric-vehicle ambitions. The shift from GM was a major blow to the plant’s 1,200 workers, many of whom had been laid off since Spring. 

Jeannie Lee, a volunteer at the food bank, believes the lack of shifts at the plant is a major reason they've seen nearly double the number of clients. She said things will likely get worse as the effects of the closure spread across the local economy.

“Yes we’ve got CAMI that closed, but it’s all the little plants and businesses that were doing things for CAMI that we’re going to start seeing.” 

Lee has been a volunteer at the foodbank for two years. Before that she was a health-care worker in the town for decades. She knows many of the families who depend on the food bank’s services. She said their clientele covers a broad spectrum, ranging from people who are unhoused or living in encampments to individuals on the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP). 

More and more though, Lee said she is seeing working poor people who are struggling to keep their cupboards stocked at home

“With rent being high and the bills being up, they can’t afford the food, so that’s the thing you cut back on to make sure your bills are paid,” she said. “So they come in here and we help top them up.”

Despite concerns about the increased demand, both Sharma and Lee are encouraged by the spirit of generosity in the community and the willingness to donate.

“We can say that we need something and one of the churches or a family might just drop off stuff and bring stuff,” Lee said. 

“Thank goodness, right?”