9 | O akville B eaver | T hursday,S eptem ber 30,2021 insidehalton.com Over 120,000 satisfied custOmers 9 Locations to serve you better Heating & Cooling www.aireonewest.ca Beat the Price increase & shortageBeat the Price increase & shortage $4,999 $49* *Call for Details $79* *Call for Details FURNACE DIAGNOSTIC SPECIAL FURNACE CLEANING SPECIAL HIGH-EFFICIENCY CENTRAL AIR & FURNACEHIGH-EFFICIENCY CENTRAL AIR & FURNACE *Call for Details Starting From 10 Year Factory Warranty $59 /MONTH OAC* $4,999 * UPGRADE TO A HIGH-EFFICIENCY FURNACEUPGRADE TO A HIGH-EFFICIENCY FURNACE $1 /DAY OAC* *Call for Details Starting From 10 Year Factory Warranty $2,799$2,799 * OAKVILLE 905-849-4998 1-888-827-2665 905-469-3232 1459 Nottinghill Gate, Oakville Retirement Living located in the heart of Oakville. In-person tours now available. delmanor.com food security crisis. The federal government measured the beginnings of what became the new normal for some as early as May of 2020. While it is hard to measure by how much food insecurity has increased in Oakville, there are clues. A national study of food insecurity done by Com- munity Food Centres Can- ada in October of 2020 found that before COVID, about 4.5 million people in the country experienced food insecurity. That num- ber jumped 39 per cent in the first two months of the pandemic and it affected one in seven people. Numbers provided by Fare Share show an in- crease in usage. In 2019, the charity reported that on average, 385 families and 1,260 individuals were served. That number went up to an average of 467 fam- ilies and 1,448 individuals by September 2021. "When people started losing their jobs and had to stay home, we had an up- tick from 350 to 700 families registered," said Russell. "Now they don't come ev- ery month. Sometimes they come every three months, sometimes they come twice a month." The Kerr Street Mission (KSM), another local chari- ty, is reporting a similar surge in clients asking for help. In 2019, KSM was get- ting an average of 407 indi- viduals per week. By Au- gust of 2021, the weekly average was at 650 people. "We increased our num- ber of markets (another name for the food bank) substantially. So prior to COVID, I think we were running six markets. Now we are running eight. And our markets run for an hour and a half each time," said KSM's food service manager Dan Nguyen. Kathy Ratcliff, commu- nity ministries officer for the Salvation Army of Oak- ville, says that attendance of their food back "from the start of COVID to today has gone up probably 38 per cent." She added that on aver- age, 10 new families are be- ing brought into their sys- tem each month. "So what we did was we pivoted to people ordering over the phone and or on- line," Ratcliff said. "We would publish a list. When they reached out to us by phone or online, we would tell them what food prod- uct we had available ... We also asked 'what product would you like that you do not see on the list.' If it were possible, we would try to facilitate bringing those in." Local charities are al- ways looking for dona- tions. Those interested in helping out should call ahead and ask what items are in demand before drop- ping them off. STORY BEHIND THE STORY: With the pandemic putting more and more families in need of assis- tance, we wanted to explore what food banks and non- profit groups are doing to meet the rising demand for their services. NEWS Continued from page 3 Dan Nguyen, food services manager at the Kerr Street Mission, has seen a rise in demand for support over the past year and a half. Graham Paine/Metroland SURGE IN CLIENTS SEEN DURING PANDEMIC VOLUNTEERS AND DONATIONS NEEDED Fare Share Food • Bankoakvillefoodbank.com/ donate • oakvillefoodbank.com/volunteer • oakvillefoodbank.com/ needed-items Kerr Street Mission • www.kerrstreet.com/volunteer • www.kerrstreet.com/donate • www.kerrstreet.com/ kerrstreetmarket Salvation Army • Oakvillehalton.cioc.ca/record/ OAK5030