Giving Tuesday: Inflation means charities need more as donations ‘plateau’

globalnews.ca:

The surging cost of living doesn’t just have more Canadians turning to shelters and food banks for help — it’s also forcing charities themselves to do more with less, as the donors they rely on find their own budgets under pressure.

Nov. 28 marks Giving Tuesday, the day after the Black Friday-Cyber Monday spending blitz when Canadians are encouraged to open their wallets to those in need. Charities tell Global News that while inflation is cooling from recent highs, the compounding impact of a higher cost of living is making that need especially great this year.

The impact of still-elevated inflation on food and housing is being felt at charities like Fred Victor, which runs shelters, warming centres and a variety of housing services for more than 3,000 people a day across 23 sites in Toronto.

Marie MacCormack, the organization’s vice-president of philanthropy and communications, says more Torontonians than ever are relying on Fred Victor’s services as they’re unable to afford basic necessities.

But because the charity itself faces those same higher costs, like when it picks up ingredients from the grocery store to prep for a day in the kitchen, those impacts are magnified on Fred Victor’s bottom line.

“The combination of need and inflation have, for example, doubled our food costs,” MacCormack tells Global News.

“To be able to pay the bills, to be able to pay your staff and to buy the supplies and make the food, to keep the doors open, the lights on, the heat … all the things that go into providing a meal or providing service.”

The high cost of housing has also “jammed” the pipeline for clients trying to move through Fred Victor’s system, she says.

Shelters are supposed to be temporary solutions for those in need of