Whitby Specialty Food Bank asks for help, may shutter without indoor home

In an empty Scarborough Church parking lot, boxes and boxes of food are unloaded from a truck by volunteers like Nadine Stewart, who love to do so every Tuesday. It's just our love for the people in the community is why we're here. And for the past two years, the Whitby Specialty Food Bank has been operating like this, outside, without a permanent home, forced out of a previous building due to bylaw restrictions when the organization outgrew its space. It's challenging navigating the weather. As you know, in Toronto, it's crazy sometimes, especially in the winter. But nonetheless, we have the resilience and the tenacity to just push. But with the winter fast approaching, the food bank says that staying outdoors simply isn't sustainable for another season. That's why it's urgently appealing to anyone for help in the Whitby or Durham region in order to help donate a warehouse or help to cover a low-cost lease in order for them to move their operations back inside. 90% of the food bank's clients still come from Durham region. It currently serves about 85 families and 50 organizations weekly. Doing so without shelter is taking a heavy toll on staff, according to the food bank's founder. Most of our volunteers are seniors, and they're telling me on a weekly basis, it's getting too cold, we can't stay. I'm going to lose volunteers. And losing volunteers, that means I can't serve as much food as I want. White says demand has grown rapidly for all food banks. Hers included. She estimates to having served over 1.6 million meals in over two years and says that it's only growing. Former Whitby Regional Councillor Malia Shahid knows all too well how challenging it is for families, having heard it from residents while on council and while volunteering at the food bank for seven years. It's unfortunate that it has trifolded in numbers that are not imaginable, but we have to work together to work on that. Now out of office, she says she will be leveraging her status to help search for a permanent building. The food bank hopes to have that space before its point drive next month. Christian DeVino, CBC News, Scarborough.