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The local food bank‘s executive director, Katharine Schmidt, said the goal is within reach, and organizers aren‘t concerned the mark won‘t be met. The goal of the annual fall campaign, which kicks off today, is to accumulate 325,000 pounds of nonâ€"perâ€" ishable food items that will help restock the food bank‘s shelves leading into winter. Officials at the Food Bank of Waterloo Region have set what they‘re calling a realistic goal for the amount of sustenance they hope to collect during this year‘s Thanksgiving food drive. Fall food drive now underway A ne w \)\(t‘lll \\‘(Hlld mean more bureaucracy and less democracy, and would also create a larger tar burden for local home owners argued Epp. It could also mean Kitchener prioriâ€" ties will come before Waterâ€" loo since they have twice the population. "It will mean an increase in taxes of 10 to 15 per cent," said Epp, as the cost as Waterloo‘s representative on regional council. "We get very few people come to regional council, whereas they come here (to city hall) all the time." "People _ feel _ more removed in a regional set ting" said Epp, who also sits Amalgamation would mean higher taxes: Continued from page 3 tion, Epp said even fewer people will be involved with the political process. "It‘s a lower goal than last By Anorea Bamey Chronicle Staff "We ended up meeting that goal, but it was after the food drive." "We didn‘t meet our goal, but we made up for it through the rest of the fall and Christmas," Schmidt said. At the end of the camâ€" paign, 343,000 pounds had been codected. year," she said. In 2005, the food bank hoped to collect 360,000 pounds of food for those less fortunate in the region. Those services are the bread and butter issues most local councils deal the unfortunate side effect is a loss of service. When people buckle under the tax increase, the only recourse is to rationalize services. of amalgamating different services under one struc ture are all absorbed He said there are a lot of examples of the initial costs to amalgamation in the examples from Ottawa to loronto, and even closer in Hamilton. There are also continued costs to that forced provincial amalga mation in the late 19908 that Toronto, in particular, continues to struggle with in terms of synchronizing services and the contracts of the workers who provide those services You Will Learn How to Find & Treat the Pressure Points For: * FATIGUE % HEADACHES * LOW BACK PAIN * NECK PAIN % SINUS & ALLERGIES * ARM AND WRIST PAIN (Carpel Tunnel Syndrome) * NUMBNESS & TINGLING (Arms & Legs) With Dr. Bryan Lawrence, D.C "Our shelves are empty," she said, noting the number of people in need seems to increase every year. "As soon as any food rolls in, we share it right away." For information on how to organize a food drive, what food items are needed most or how to make a donation, visit the food bank‘s website at www.theâ€" foodbank.ca. Schmidt said it may be even harder to meet the goal this year. Worse. historically low participation rates in local elections fall even lower, and citizens who once got involved with their city stay home. Epp said Waterloo has built a culture of volunâ€" teerism that would be hurt when people identify even less with the community they live in. "People start finding out their services aren‘t the way they were before." with on a daily basis. And cituizens of a proposed megacity have to ask them selves if they‘re willing to give up the services they already receive. "If you don‘t want that kind of a tax increase, then you start cutting services," said Epp. "This has been the model in every other regional municipality which has merged. With the region already delivering 70 per cent of But Erb said this isn‘t about lost community idenâ€" tity, it‘s about overlapping services "Volunteerism _ goes down," said Epp. "People in a larger municipality are less likely to volunteer to serve because they figure they can‘t have much impact in the community." goes on tme to & makes se "How many libraries de we need. how many payyol departments do we need how many different plan ning departments do we need," said Erb. "The lis local services, do we really need eight municipalities to deliver the rest We just mayor t then