Peterborough’s Porch Pirates for Good are once again planning to peacefully plunder local porches on Saturday, November 12th with another porch food drive to restock the dwindling shelves at Kawartha Food Share.
People are asked to leave a bag of non-perishable food items on their front porch.
Beginning at 9 a.m., volunteers will drive around the city, collect the donated items, and deliver them to the Kawartha Food Share warehouse.
According to a recent report from Food Banks Canada, food banks across the country are straining under historically high demand due to inflationary food costs, low provincial social assistance rates, and housing costs.
Seniors and students on fixed incomes and the working poor are increasingly turning to food banks to put food on the table for themselves and their families.
The rising cost of food along with supply-chain shortages have also affected Kawartha Food Share’s clients, donors, and the organization’s own purchasing power.
The demand for food supports has also grown over the pandemic, with Kawartha Food Share now supporting 51 local organizations in the city and county of Peterborough — 14 more than they were supporting before the pandemic.
The two most-needed food items are peanut butter and canned tune, along with canned fruit, individually wrapped school snacks, pasta and pasta sauce, easy-to-cook items that kids like such as mac and cheese, breakfast cereal, gluten-free items such as pasta, canned vegetables, rice, and canned soup and stew.
Other needed items include feminine hygiene products, baby formula, and diapers.
You can also help by making a monetary donation at kawarthafoodshare.com/donations.html. For every $1 donated, Kawartha Food Share can purchase up to $6 worth of food.
Porch Pirates for Good has held five porch food drives since the pandemic began, bringing in more than 120,000 pounds of food and over $12,000 in monetary donations for Kawartha Food Share.
