In last week’s issue of The Expositor, the December 20 paper the week before Christmas, an advertisement acknowledged and thanked the 2023 donors to The Expositor’s “Christmas Charity Challenge” that sent a very full Suburban load of food, knitted winterwear and new toys to the Manitoulin Family Resources (MFR) Christmas hamper campaign.
The ad also acknowledged that this event was the 30th annual challenge that involved primarily Little Current businesses and institutions.
The 30 years of this December tradition parallel the dramatic growth in the demand—year ‘round—on MFR to boost Island citizens’ food security.
Thirty years ago, when then – Expositor staffer, the late Ruth Mohommand, conceived of a local charity challenge to assist MFR at Christmastime, the demand for food and gifts to fill the “hampers” MFR delivered to those in need at Christmastime was relatively low and events like the papers in various Island communities were enough to fill those hampers, combined with individual and business cash donations.
In fact, the paper’s initial charity challenge three decades ago was initiated the previous year, at the very first “Christmas in the Park” event at Kagawong’s Park Centre when the same Ms. Mohammed prettily decorated a nice Christmas tree and stayed with it through the length of the event where people were encouraged to bring non-perishable food items to her table at the Park Centre over the course of the weekend, and someone would win the decorated Christmas tree through a draw.
Things were much simpler then.
Now, in 2023, although community events like the one still organized by this publication and other similar ones remain important to the MFR’s food bank missionary, but the need now, compared to 30 years ago, reflects an enormous growth in Island people and families needing help to survive from month to month, not just at Christmastime.
In this year’s MFR contribution to the 2023 Ontario Hunger Report, Manitoulin Family Resources reported an amazing 4,289 individuals served in the year that began on March 31, 2022 and ended April 1, 2023. That number represents 1,569 Manitoulin households, a dramatic 27.6 percent increase in new clients over the same period the previous year.
Manitoulin Island has a population hovering around 14,000 people so, considering households alone (1,569) served and if we consider a Manitoulin household has 2.5 residents, for 5,600 families/households that means that a whopping 22 percent of families were food insecure for all or part of the past year and were served by MFR’s food bank. One cannot imagine this number improving as we pass the half-way point in the next cycle that will end April 1 of next year.
Thirty years ago the food bank was very much add-on to MFR charter activity of providing a shelter and transitional housing to women and their children at risk because of domestic violence.
That remains central to MFR’s mandate, of course, but who now considers MFR as solely a shelter and doesn’t also think of its vital role operating the Island’s food bank and thrift store?
Thirty years ago the focus was on community donations to help people have a brighter Christmas. Only a few years prior to that, these seasonal donations were met by local service clubs and church groups.
Now, the focus is servicing people who have become food insecure every week and every month, all year long.
Manitoulin’s experience in this respect mirrors the province and the national picture.
We are fortunate here that we have had an organization like MFR whose management, staff and board realize it has a role to play and, over these three decades, has quietly expanded its services to serve the community, individuals and families in times of need.
