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5 | O akville B eaver | T hursday,M ay 7,2020 insidehalton.com Ying Yang Chartered Professional Accountant Member of Canadian Tax Foundation (647) 989-1276 Oakville Office: (289) 291-3924 Toronto Offiffice: (647) 255-8049 yy@yangaccounting.ca For an affordable solution to your Business and Individual tax difficulties … Make an Appointment Today for a Free Confidential Consultation CRACRACRACRA PPPPrroblobleems?ms? Individual, Corporati &on & Trust Payrayroll, HST includiudingng Overseas & O& Offffshorshore Tax Issueax Issues Yang Tang Tang Tang ax Resolsolution 49% of Canadians give themselvesa grade of C or lower on howthey view their personalfinancial skills. Does that include you? Let'sTalk. 905-842-2100 Visit our website to sign up for a free consultation. Peter Watson MBA, CFP®, R.F.P., CIM®, FCSI Jennifer Watson MBA, CFP®, CIM® 220 Randall Street, Downtown Oakville 905-842-2100 www.watsoninvestments.com Thinking of retiring someday? Let's Talk. Visit our website to sign up for a free consultation. *Sour CIBC poll, February 2018 of Canadians don't have a retirement plan to achieve what they want in retirement.*90%Schedule a virtual meetingto review your wealthmanagement strategy. 905-842-2100 ext. 103 jennifer@watsoninvestments.com Oakville's Fare Share Food Bank is in desperate need of food to handle the "staggering"food to handle the "staggering"f number of new clients. Last month, 150 new individ- uals sought the services of the Speers Road food bank. Under normal circumstanc- es, new clients might reach a monthly total of eight, said Fare Share director, Stephen Rowe. "The number of new clients we're getting in now is just un- believable; and they're all from Oakville." With business closures and layoffs as a result of the pan- demic, Fare Share was antici- pating an increase in its num- bers, but the sheer volume is putting a strain on both its food supply, and the dwindling hand- ful of volunteers who run theful of volunteers who run thef food bank now. food bank now. f Financial donations have been steady, but food donations have "plummeted," partly be- cause people aren't buying items for the food bank at this time, and partly because many supermarkets have removed food bank bins to accommodatefood bank bins to accommodatef physical distancing of store cus- tomers, said Rowe. "I fully understand why they've (supermarkets) done what they've done, and I fully understand why all the volun- teers decided they just can't come in (to the food bank). I completely understand; you have to protect yourself and your family." But the bottom line is the quantity of food items is down and "we need food," he said. Fare Share is open to clients twice a week, Mondays between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. and Thurs- days, 3 to 6:45 p.m. Delivery is available; however, at the mo- ment, most clients are picking up their groceries at the facility during those hours. "I want people in Oakville to understand how this virus has affected the food bank and what it's done to the community. We've had a 35-40 per cent in-We've had a 35-40 per cent in-W crease in the people we serve and that's a lot of people. If they (client numbers) go up then we've got a real problem because we won't be able to han- dle it; the size of our facility won't enable us to process that many families through the food bank. And we're not the only ones." One short month ago, Fare Share was requesting more fi- nancial donations over food drop-offs due to a combination of cancellations of much de- pended upon food drives, self- isolation measures and lack of volunteers to sort the dona- tions; however, drop-offs are be- ing welcomed again. Fare Share's website, www.oakvillefoodbank.com, has a list of the most needed items and the office is open most days between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. You can simply drop off non-perishables at 1240 Speers Rd. Unit #6, or call 905-847-3988 if you wish to ensure a volun- teer is on hand. Call the same number if you want to make a donation or volunteer. Cheques should be made pay- able to Fare Share Food Bank Oakville Inc. and sent directly to 1240 Speers Rd. Unit #6, Oak- ville, L6L 2X4. Pre-pandemic, Fare Share was serving approximately 1,500 clients. NEWS 'STAGGERING' NUMBER OF NEW CLIENTS STRAINS FOOD BANKS KATHY YANCHUS kyanchus@metroland.com Oakville's Fare Share Food Bank is in need of food items for its growing client base in wake of pandemic closures and layoffs. Graham Paine/Torstar