As more Northumberland families continue to struggle amid rising food and living costs, helping to tackle hunger in 2025 will remain at the forefront for Northumberland United Way.
Food insecurity is one of the most pressing issues in the community – a reality made clear once again in 2024 as food bank numbers and demand for help through local food programs continued to soar.
This growing challenge is also what has inspired an evolution of the Northumberland Eats program, explains executive director Alicia Vandine.
The initial Northumberland Eats was more of a voucher initiative – meaning people could exchange vouchers for an immediate meal – which started back during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The program has now shifted – dubbed Northumberland Eats 2.0 – to a more comprehensive, five-part initiative, aimed at addressing food security at its root and through targeted solutions, in the words of United Way.
To start, Vandine says area providers are getting help through micro-grants.
“Our food banks were able to get ‘grow’ grants, which allowed them to buy produce and proteins, which are things that are not normally donated,” explains Vandine. “And (through) our ‘feed’ program, we were able to provide some communal meal programs with some additional dollars in order to put more food into bellies, and so that is something that we will be continuing as a priority in 2025.”
Northumberland Eats 2.0 was developed with support from Northumberland County, insights through United Way’s “Community Matters” initiative, and voices of local food providers.
Unveiled in December 2024, the first stages of the program involve the grow and feed streams, which translated to help for 24 Northumberland not-for-profit food organizations through micro-grants.
As previously reported, food banks provincewide continue to experience record-breaking increases in use. Meanwhile, Feed Ontario’s 2024 Hunger Report also highlighted data showing another alarming trend in the Ontario food bank network: Nearly 40 per cent of food banks are being forced to reduce the food they can provide during visits to meet rising demand.
When looking at local statistics, during Hunger Action Month last year, Lisa Horne, with the county’s community and social services, highlighted more than 74,000 visits to food banks in 2023 in Northumberland alone.
This represented a 32 per cent hike in comparison to 2022.
In other words, United Way and partners’ work is far from over. For Northumberland Eats, there are still three stages to come: “Seed, thrive and learn.”
This work will continue in the new year – along with a deeper delve into other priorities in area communities, explains Vandine.
“We, at United Way, always want to make sure that we are relevant and making sure that we are providing dollars in the right way,” continues Vandine.
This means Northumberland communities can also expect more “Community Matters” consultation work in 2025, including roundtables and more.
Vandine tells us more about the key ask that will be going before communities.
Vandine shares hopes that hearing firsthand from individual communities will help United Way make the difference.
Overall, Vandine anticipates 2025 is going to be an exciting year for Northumberland United Way.
(Written by: Sarah Hyatt)
