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Growing number of children are in need of emergency food services ile visions of sugar plums danced through the heads of some children this holi- day season. a new survey released by the Food Bank of Waterloo Region showed the offerings were more meager for a growing number of local children through the first nine months of this year. HungerCount figures released by the food bank showed a 21-per-certt increase in the number of children supported through emergency food hamper programs. The food banks Hunger- Count is a survey of food programs within Waterloo region. It's main purpose is to identify the number of people who access these programs and report on any trends these services are seeing. The most disturbing trend is the number of chil- dren accessing these ser- vices, said Sean Strickland, executive director of the food bank. T "It just reinforces the kind of social policy dilem- ma we are facing in this country," he said. "The economy continues to move along but while this is hap- pening there are many peo- ple in our community, and a growing number of children. who are being left out of the equation. "And we need to do something as a society to help address this in a mean- ingfulway" Survey results show there are more two-parent fami. lies accessing emergency food programs. families which tend to have more children, as well as an increasing number of work- mg poor families. The number of working poor, whose primary source of Income is reported as either full-time or part-time employment. has risen to IH 9 per cent of total recipi- ents. a four-per-cent increase over last year, What the survey results are telling emergency food providers is that while there are more jobs out there In the economy as a whole. the quality of the employment hasn't reached the same standard set before the I992 retessmn, “If you compare the situ- .mun we're experiencing 21 Alien St. W. 585-1000 Mun Wed q Km.“ & Fr: 01% Sat IO 4 Boa Vluwuc Eh ran irte Star FACTORY SHOWROOM today to 10 years ago when we were in a recession, 10 years ago the problem was there weren't enough jobs to go around." said Strickland. "Today we have enough jobs to go around, but the chang- ing nature of the economy is making the problem much more qualitative today/' Thzit's driving make and more of the working poor to access social service pro- And those numbers of working poor and two-par- em families accessing emer- gency food services are expected to increase over the winter months as fami- lies struggle with rising utili- ty bills. "The conundrum in some of the public's mind is that if the economy is going so well, why is the demand for emergency food crmtinu- ing?" said Strickland. and“) elm?" License M90057 -"- V - kiil Sessions daily: (f2tid4ie 12:00 pm. 3:00 pm, 9395);" "T22.s ' A: 6:45 pm & l0 pm 483;? As of Jan. Ist - 3 pr . .'::2siee is Fj.Sat. 8. Sun, or "' an“-.. 1.5.. I It! 92 Lodge St., Waterloo 884-341 s, uBut it's pretty tough to "iikiiiiiii"""iiiriiit'Liibis0 40% ELLE Facludes KKK & Nora Cotton Sleepwear Volage &all 9IB Caroline St. S. HOURS Tues ll am _ 6 pm Wed Thurs & Fr, II arn 3 pm (a! ll am gym Sun ll nmmr pm Fine Home Furnish in Uptown Waterloo , "We're more than just tables and chairs!" e Fine Lingerie 742-4593 . Livingroom Suites . Bedroom Suites q Kitchen SI Dining Sets . Chairs . Office Furniture . Law . Bar 51 Kitchen Counter Stools . Home Accents feed your family on seven bucks an hour without ben- efits" The other big factor dri- ving people to the food bank is finding affordable housing with both federal and provincial governments downloading that responsi- bility on to municipalities like Waterloo Region. "Many people on limited incomes... are spending a greater amount of their monthly income on shelter than they did in any previ- ous year because of low vacancy rates and the absence of rent controls," said Strickland. "That's going to be further compounded by increased electricity and home heating costs." "So once people pay for rent, there's not much left over for food. Strickland believes the major way to ease the - Board Fri. Dec. 29, 2000 6:45pm [doors open S:00pm) Sessions daily: 12:00 pm. 3:00 pm. HOLIDAY SPECIAL sofJaant- 3 pm 2rL.Sat. & Sun, only Please Join Us! i v.1 .. 99.10 increased demand for emer- gency food help is to address the housing issue, affected by local vacancy rates hover- ing around .7 per cent. "We live in a country where if you don't have ade- quate housing youre going to freeze to death in the win- ter," he said. "If there's any country in the world that needs a national housing strategy, it's Canada. “If you have that appro- prime housing. then the monthly check is going to go that much further. and thal'll help decrease demand at the food bank." Until that time. the local food bank and other local services like the House of Friendship's Christmas Hamper program are going to need continued public support. -Ne1wotk' Installation ~FuI-Set vice Cumming ~Wd3 "ostfrtg rComputer Training . 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