2023-07-08 18:46:03
Although food insecurity makes more headlines during the holiday season, the demand for assistance services in this area remains high during the summer season.
During the school year, many children rely on services such as the Quebec Breakfast Club for food, but no longer have access to them during the summer.
“The children are at home or in day camps where there are no food services, so this is a concern here at Moisson Montreal, this dimension of food insecurity,” explains the executive director. Chantal Vezina.
The donations that some companies make monthly are also limited due to fewer hours worked, which increases the challenge for organizations.
They receive around 2.2 million requests monthly, compared to 1.9 million a year ago.
Over the past three years, there has been a marked increase of 37% in terms of workers who use their services.
“We see people and families we haven’t seen in years,” says Louise Donaldson, assistant director of the Ahuntsic-Cartierville Nutrition and Community Action Department. They had taken their heads out of the water, but there they have just plunged once more.
“With everything going up, they still need to come. 17% of our customers are employed, she adds. Having a minimum wage job is not enough. It takes something else to meet his needs.”
The two organizations welcome the $34 million investment announced by Quebec, of which $20 million will be used for infrastructure renewal.
This might allow them, for example, to obtain new refrigerators or trucks to transport food.
“Even if we had more funding to buy more food, we have already reached our limit, shares Ms. Donaldson. We have no idea of the amount that will be granted to us, but it is certain that all the sums that can be given to us so that we can go and buy additional food, we take it with great pleasure.
$6 million will be dedicated to purchasing additional food this year, while $8 million will be used to repeat the process for the next four years.
Watch the full explanation in the video above.
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