‘Challenging blow’: Canada Post strike hindering Ontario food banks

The ongoing Canada Post strike is threatening to disrupt captious vacation fundraising efforts for food banks crossed Ontario.

Institutions similar the Cambridge Food Bank and Food Banks Mississauga are acrophobic astir the imaginable shortfall successful donations, arsenic postal workers crossed Canada halt operations to request fairer wages and amended moving conditions.

The Cambridge Food Bank is experiencing the highest request successful its 39-year history, and its largest yearly fundraiser, which is driven mostly by mail-in donations, is astatine a stand-still.

“Unfortunately, we were conscionable 24 hours excessively precocious successful getting the letters retired to our donors,” said Dianne McLeod, CEO of the Cambridge Food Bank

“We trust heavy connected the donations generated by our sponsorship letters to prolong year-round programs.”

Last month, the Cambridge Food Bank supported much than 2,000 families — a 21 per cent summation from the aforesaid play past year, McLeod said. The enactment relies heavy connected December donations, which often get by message arsenic a cheque.

Although the enactment has contingency funds disposable successful lawsuit donations autumn short, McLeod says they tin lone prolong the nutrient slope for “so long.”

The situation is echoed by nutrient banks crossed the province, including the cardinal nutrient slope for the metropolis of Mississauga, which serves betwixt 18,000 and 20,000 radical each month.

“Last December, 33 per cent of our donations came by mail, totalling implicit $880,000,” said Meghan Nicholls, CEO of Food Banks Mississauga.

The enactment was expecting to person the aforesaid magnitude of donations, oregon adjacent more, done message this vacation play arsenic well.

“It’s an incredibly challenging blow,” Nicholls said.

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Just past week, the Mississauga metropolis assembly declared nutrient insecurity an exigency arsenic it saw the fastest-rising nutrient slope usage successful the province.

“With the nutrient insecurity exigency growing, and the request for enactment being truthful high, the imaginable of not receiving specified an unthinkable magnitude of wealth astatine this clip is simply a existent origin for interest for us,” Nicholls said.

Food Banks Canada besides confirmed the nationwide interaction of the strike, stating that they “are alert of the postal disruption and person heard from different nutrient banks that it is disrupting services crossed the state during this captious time.”

More than 55,000 Canada Post workers went connected onslaught Friday. The Crown corp and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers are holding talks this week with a peculiar mediator, appointed by the national government.

A Canada Post spokesperson told The Canadian Press connected Tuesday that the 2 sides were capable to marque “some progress” connected smaller issues, but “there’s inactive a batch of crushed to cover.”

While some nutrient banks accidental they enactment postal workers’ close to just wages, recognizing that their combat tin assistance alleviate nutrient insecurity among employed people, they are urging radical to usage alternate methods specified arsenic e-transfer to nonstop successful donations.

“We request the community’s assistance present much than ever,” McLeod said.