The boxes and shelves are starting to go empty at the food bank in Wallaceburg.
Rhonda Dickson, family services coordinator for the Salvation Army of Chatham-Kent, said they’ll take all kinds of items at the 600 Lowe Ave. location in Wallaceburg.
“I thought we could get through until at least our Fill The Truck campaign (in June), but that is just not going to happen,” she said.
Dickson said a wide-range of essential items are needed.
“We need fruit, canned fruits, frozen fruit,” she said. “We need canned juice, any kind of canned meat, salmon, tuna, ham, turkey. A lot of pasta, spaghetti sauce… your normal stuff that can make a meal for at least one to four people that is nutritious. Frozen vegetables, canned vegetables. Soups, the cookies, the crackers, your basic soda cracker, peanut butter, jam.”
Dickson said the Salvation Army will help people plan their budget.
“We try to help people do that budget by introducing different recipes, this works, that works, this spreads over a family,” she said.
Dickson said they could always use healthy choice items.
“We are getting a lot of health conscious people,” she said. “We really try to focus on the healthy foods. We have folks that come in with diabetes, we have folks that come in with gluten-free, so it is nice to have a stack of that stuff. If it is a Mom that has that issue, she tends to feed her children before she feeds herself.”
School snacks are always needed, Dickson said.
“There are a lot of older children too that may not take money for lunches at the high school, but if you have your granola bars, your cheese and crackers they tend to eat that,” she said. “Cereals for kids, cereal is very expensive but it’s a staple. If you run out of something, you can always have some cereal, hot cereals.”
Dickson said they will help anyone that walks through their doors in Wallaceburg, that includes people who live in Dresden, Mitchell’s Bay or Walpole Island.
“Anyone that is struggling… whether they’re working, whether they are on social assistance, whether they are on Ontario disability, anybody can come to the Salvation Army,” she said. “We also offer the ministerial part, you may be having some trouble with your kids and we have a child and youth worker that may be able to do some work with you. The people who are hungry can come… singles, families, seniors. We’re not going to turn anyone away.”
Dickson said starting on April 9, the Wallaceburg office will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. from Tuesday to Friday.
“We will do food bank all day for those four days of the week,” she said. “We used to just do hours here and hours there… but some people can’t get here. Some people have to walk, so it is open all day on those days.
Call the Wallaceburg office for more details at 519-627-8257.
