‘Levels beyond crisis’: Billy Bishop Airport partners with Daily Bread Food Bank on new donation drive

A new donation drive at the Billy Bishop Airport seeks to help support the Daily Bread Food Bank this holiday season amid reports of rising demand. (From left, Neil Hetherington, CEO of Daily Bread Food Bank; RJ Steenstra, President and CEO of PortsToronto; and Neil Pakey, President and CEO of Nieuport Aviation). CTV News/Ken Enlow

A new donation drive is being held at Billy Bishop Airport this month amid reports that food banks are struggling to keep up with a significant increase in demand.

The donation drive, which was announced at a press conference at the airport on Wednesday morning, will span the month of November. People can support the drive by donating funds through the drive’s webpage, or through GR codes posted throughout the Billy Bishop Airport.

“More than 12,000 new individuals access Daily Bread for the first time each month, and with food inflation and rising rents, these numbers are expected to grow,” a news release about the donation drive states. “Moreover, a staggering 28% of adults report missing a whole day of meals because they did not have enough money for food.”

Those interested in supporting the cause are also encouraged to donate food to local food bank, or by contacting their elected officials advocating for change.

“The most important [way to support the Daily Bread Food Bank] this year is advocacy,” Daily Bread Food Bank CEO Neil Hetherington said during Wednesday’s press conference. “It’s talking to any elected official and saying ‘today is the day to reduce poverty, today is the day to implement the poverty reduction strategy in your government.’ We need people to let their elected officials know that they will no longer have a job unless they tackle poverty.”

A recent report issued by Food Banks Canada graded all provincial and territorial governments on how it is addressing food insecurity, poverty and reduction rates. Canada overall received a D+ for its efforts, whereas Ontario received a B-.

The province’s poverty measures section showcased an A- for the poverty rate, an A for social assistance and an A- for the food insecurity rate.

Hetherington says that there are now a steady 275,000 visits per-month to food banks in Toronto.

That’s up from a typical 60,000 per-month, pre-pandemic.

Food banks in Quebec and in the Greater Vancouver area have also reported an increase in demand, likely due to food inflation.

“The need [for food from food banks] in the city is at levels beyond crisis,” he said. “We are at four times the number of individuals having to make use of the Daily Bread Food Bank in the city of Toronto – we could fill up the Rogers Centre seven times every single month with the number of folks we are feeding.”

What can be done?

When asked what needs to be done to improve poverty levels in the province, Hetherington expressed the importance of “continued investment” in affordable housing and income supports while tackling the issue of precarious employment.

“When you tackle these three things, I think you’ll start to see the disparity between those who have and those who don’t start to diminish and food bank lines decrease,” he said.

“If you look at food insecurity, it’s not a food issue, it’s an income issue.”

He explained that one pathway forward would be a guaranteed basic income – it’s something that Daily Bread Food Bank has consistently advocated for. In addition, it supports over 200 food programs in Toronto.

“There have been studies done, not just here in Canada, but across the world, that show you have a much more productive, resilient, and economically sound society when you have those kinds of programs in place.”

In 2017, the province launched a guaranteed income pilot project in Hamilton, Ont., Brantford, Ont., Brant County, and Thunder Bay Ont., areas. The pilot allowed eligible participants to receive a minimum amount of income each year of nearly $17,000.

Comparatively, the low-income threshold for a single-adult household in Canada, comparatively, is an annual salary of $25,252. Those in “deep poverty” receive an annual income of $11,700.

The pilot was cancelled in 2018.

Hetherington asks that those wanting to support the Daily Bread Food Bank drop off food or funds, and advocate for the implementation of a poverty reduction strategy.

“[Poverty] is incredibly expensive,” he said. “So what we’re saying is make those investments. You’ll find those investments do two things, one if they are an outward example of [Ontario’s] values, and two, they have positive benefit for the individuals that need assistance across the province.”