Ottawa Food Bank forced to turn down volunteers due to donation shortfall

OTTAWA — The Ottawa Food Bank says it was forced to cut shifts for volunteers due to a shortage of donated food.

It attributes the scarcity in donations to high food prices, which the organization says “are understandably impacting donor habits.”

The food bank apologized to volunteers who had their shifts cancelled in a statement on Monday.

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The charitable organization provides food to over 100 different services including small community food banks, shelters and school meal programs across Ottawa.

In 2022, the Ottawa Food Bank spent over $3.5 million to meet demand and distributed around 8.8 million pounds of food.

The organization’s 26 member food banks had over 400,000 visits in 2022.

2:03 Scarborough food bank says usage is up 112.6%, calls for more gov’t action