Long lines outside of Adie Knox Arena in west Windsor where the UHC Hub of Opportunities handed out 100 holiday hampers to those in need.
Hundreds of people lined up on foot or in the drive-thru line for the holiday hampers, but the crowd also included those who show up regularly on Tuesdays at the arena to receive a regular food hamper.
June Muir, CEO of UHC-Hub of Opportunities and President of the Windsor-Essex Food Bank Association, says they never turned people away in prior years.
"At Adie Knox on Tuesdays and Thursdays, we do turn people away which has never happened," she says. "I also want to point out that pre-pandemic we made 300 hampers a week, now we're making 1,500 hampers a week, that's a huge jump. We're not always able to give everybody a hamper."
Windsor West New Democrat MP Brian Masse and Windsor West New Democrat MPP Lisa Gretzky help distribute holiday food hampers outside Adie Knox Arena in Windsor to those in need. Dec. 19, 2023. (Photo: Rusty Thomson)
The holiday hampers handed out Tuesday morning included a turkey, potatoes, carrots, onions, salad, stuffing, crackers and more needed for a holiday meal.
Windsor West New Democrat MPP Lisa Gretzky and Windsor West New Democrat MP Brian Masse were both on hand to help distribute food hampers to those in need.
Muir says food donations have been down this year.
"We've been fortunate, we've been doing fundraising and hosting fundraising events. We've also got a lot of checks and monetary donations from the community. We have been able to buy what we normally buy so far but there need is greater. So we're asking those who can donate to please donate," she says.
A long line of cars outside of Adie Knox Arena where the UHC Hub of Opportunities handed out 100 holiday hampers to those in need. Dec. 19, 2023. (Photo: Rusty Thomson)
Muir says they're not always able to give people a regular food hamper this year due to the increased need.
"We've also gone from feeding and helping people once a week to twice a month, so we've decreased to keep up with demand. We've been thinking outside the box and hosting different events. Things have really changed but we're doing the best we can," she says.
At 10 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 21, UHC will distribute 200 holiday hampers at the UHC – Hub of Opportunities office at 6955 Cantelon Dr. in Windsor.
Windsor-Tecumseh Liberal MP Irek Kusmierczyk and Windsor-Tecumseh Conservative MPP Andrew Dowie will be on hand to help with the distibution efforts.
Feed Ontario, a collective of hunger relief organizations, released a report in late November that found more than 800,000 people in the province turned to emergency food support between April 1, 2022 and March 31, 2023.
The number is a 38 per cent increase over the pervious year, the largest single-year increase recorded by the province's food bank network.
During that same time period, over 29,000 unique individuals accessed the Windsor-Essex Food Bank Association.
In all there were 199,000 total visits to local food banks, a 23 per cent increase over the previous year.
There was also a 64 per cent increase in visits by people who had never used a food bank before.