Daily Bread's fall food drive has had a dismal first week. While donations are down -- only half of what they were last year -- use of the food bank is on the rise.

Gail Nyberg, executive director of Daily Bread, told CTV.ca there have been more than 905,000 visits over the last fiscal year -- an increase of approximately 90,000 from last year.

Nyberg pointed to a rise in the number of single-income households using foodbanks. Last year, "it was 24 per cent," she said. "Now it is 27 per cent."

The decrease in donations isn't the only thing that has Daily Bread worried. Food supplies are also at dangerous low.

"In my time here, I don't think I've ever seen the shelves looking so empty. The summer was really slow in terms of donations and as a result, we urgently need support now," Nyberg said in a media release.

The lag in donations has mainly been due to a decrease in corporate gifts. Many companies such as Kraft and Campbell's donate large amounts of food products to food banks when there are errors on labels or products are nearing expiry.

"(Companies) get better at manufacturing and they have less overrun, so they have less to donate," Nyberg said.

"As the computerized world takes over they get better and better at their logistics."

A look at who uses the food bank:

  • 50 per cent have lived in Canada less than five years
  • 34 per cent are children
  • 27 per cent have at least one working person in the household
  • 54 per cent have been on social assistance for more than two years
  • 22 per cent have been on social assistance for more than two years who are family care-givers

Mike Schoonheit has had a lot of experience with food banks. Six years ago he was on assistance, receiving $520 a month and paying $500 in rent.

"You do the math, and you realize you need a little bit more than that, and of course food, so I started to use the Fort York Food Bank once a week for food," Schoonheit told CTV.ca.

After a few weeks Schoonheit started volunteering at FYFB, and has since become project co-ordinator. He will celebrate his five-year anniversary in November.

"I have been on all sides, I know how it feels to sit in a waiting room, and the frustration of certain items running out, it can be very difficult," Schoonheit said.

The items that food banks are most in need of are canned meat and fish, pasta, hearty soups, baby food and formula, lentils and beans, and any nutritious non-perishable food.

The Thanksgiving weekend is traditionally one of the biggest food drive weekends of the year, and food banks across the city are hoping for a big push this coming weekend.

North York Harvest Food Bank Executive Director Loren Freid said they are hoping what comes out of this weekend will turn the drive around and turn up some good results.

"We are counting on the Thanksgiving weekend," Freid said.