SUDBURY -- It’s a busy time of year for the Sudbury Food Bank as crews are hard at work sorting through donations from this year's Edgar Burton Christmas Food Drive.
"Has it been a very successful food drive? Absolutely it has. It's been amazing the way the community has come to the forefront to make sure nobody goes hungry in our community," said Dan Xilon, Sudbury Food Bank.
This comes in light of a new study from the Fraser Institute that says Canadian charity donations are at a 20-year low. According to the study, less than one in five Canadian tax-filers claimed charitable donations on their 2017 returns, and the total amount donated by Canadians was just 0.5 per cent of their income.
"Looking at the Fraser report, they are really talking about people who are claiming charitable giving on their income tax, so that's very different than charitable giving in general. I think that a lot of people don't realize the tax benefits to donating to charities during this time of year and that the tax break is actually quite significant depending on the amount that you donate," said Katherine Cockburn, United Way.
Cockburn says while the United Way is just wrapping up its busiest time of year, it is trying to grapple with reaching out to a younger demographic.
"Our donors are changing in the last five to ten years, so we are really trying to find out what is the best way to try to re-engage young donors," she explained.
Although the Food Bank has seen no dip in giving, Xilon says he doesn't like the phrase 'down in donations' because he believes any donation leaves charities with more than they had.
"Anybody that can and is willing to help will do the best they can to help and you have to appreciate every dollar and every can that comes in with people that do that," he expressed.
While the final figures for this year's Christmas food drive won't be known for a few weeks, Xilon says he's confident they'll reach their goal of 100 tons of food, saying Sudburians always come through in the end.
