The Guelph Food Bank has an unusual problem – they have too much pasta and not enough sauce. The program recently received a big donation of dried noodles. A major drop off from the Mississauga and Waterloo Region food banks has lined their shelves with pasta. Now, they need something savory to pair with it. “It just doesn’t complete a meal. So, if they don’t have the means in their budget to be able to purchase, then they’re finding ways to use it, or they hold on to it until they can have access to sauce,” said Carolyn McLeod-McCarthy, director of marketing, fundraising and community impact, at the Guelph Food Bank. The food bank issued an “urgent” appeal this week for non-perishable items, including peanut butter, canned tuna and canned beans, as well as sauce. While donations typically drop off in the summer, food insecurity never goes away. “We know times are tight,” the food bank wrote. “The rising cost of living in Guelph is affecting all of us — and that’s exactly why we’re asking for something small but mighty. Just one or two grocery items — things you might toss in your cart without a second thought — can help us keep meals on the table for our neighbours who need it most.” The food bank said this time of year is especially challenging. “This is our highest needs time. It will increase over the summer and yet our donations go down. So, it’s not the right direction for balancing out people to the amount of food that we get donated,” McLeod-McCarthy said. McLeod-McCarthy said in April around 4,400 people used their services, while in their peak month last July it was almost 5,300. She assumes those numbers will be similar this summer, as kids are at home and not using food programs at school. The food bank receives the most donations around December, and that lasts until the end of April, but now it barely makes it to March. “The public is amazing, but they’re also strapped for cash as well,” McLeod-McCarthy said. To help with donations, the food bank is running a pilot project with Cambridge based Heart2Cart, which offers a web-based app for users to order and donate food. It also has features to donate money directly. “Would help us work with a new demographic of people who like to interact with their apps,” McLeod-McCarthy said. The food bank still accepts traditional drop offs, and cash, but is hoping this new web app encourages more donations. “You’re able to see it all kind of happening as you go. It’s just a lot more lively, a lot more engaging, and it’s a more fun way to give,” Paolo Di Donato, Founder, Heart2Cart said. Founder Paolo Di Donato said instead of just donating money, users choose certain items to buy, similar to online grocery shopping. The food bank controls what’s available on the app based on what they need. “Basically, what happens is you are digitally donating. At the end of the day, the food is purchased by the food bank. So, the funds get transferred to the food bank. The food bank then uses their purchasing power to buy more, versus us going to the grocery store and having less purchasing power,” Di Donato said. “Someone like Carolyn is able to go in there and say, ‘I want these six items. I don’t want to put eggs up there because we don’t need eggs, I want tuna and I want pasta. Right?’ And those are the things that someone can actually select in that way. We know that in the future we can do things like donate ten meals, donate 20 meals, donate 100 meals, and it can be a wrapped meal. And that way they have the ability to use their purchasing power for the things that they can buy versus saying it’s this dedicated item. So, there’s a lot of ways that it can go.” Di Donato thought of it after watching bakeries throw out bread each day instead of donating it. “When I was younger, I actually had this sort of idea. You worked in a bakery. They threw out a lot of bread at the end of the day. The idea was, can you take that bread and bring it to a food bank? So, the idea was kind of stuck around with me. A friend of mine had this idea and kind of thought, why not try it? Now you can build stuff almost for free. And it’s a great way to kind of donate, engage. See what happens. See what people think. So, it’s a pilot right now. We’re testing it and we’re going to see what happens,” Di Donato said. Di Donato said he’s trying to get other food banks onboard with the app and will see how it can expand over time. Donations can be dropped off at local grocery stores, fire halls or at the Guelph Food Bank’s main warehouse, located at 100 Crimea Street.
