Halal food bank expands in London to meet 'exponential' need, help resettle newcomers

A halal food bank in London has expanded to a larger location to better serve a growing number of people in need of food, essential items and employment support.

The Halal Food Bank Canada has been helping provide halal-based ingredients and non-perishable food items to Londoners since 2019, but demand has significantly increased in recent years for services that extend beyond just food, said president and founder Amna Saleem.

"The number of clients right now is about 1,200. That's roughly about 400 families," she said. "Mostly it's the rent which is making it horrible and difficult for many families to survive."

"We are also offering a lot of other services to newcomer families like clothing and essentials so they can stand on their own feet. We want to have workshops to train them for jobs and resume building, so there was need for a much bigger place."

The food bank has now moved from its former home on Wonderland Road to the Oxbury Mall in east London. Although halal options primarily serve the Muslim community, Saleem emphasized the food bank is open to everyone.

"Hunger sees no religious boundaries, but there are families who depend specifically on halal so we wanted to make sure they get culturally-appropriate food without any worry," she added.

In the six years she's been doing this work, Saleem has noticed a drastic increase in people turning to food banks, especially since the COVID pandemic. An average of three to four families register as its clients daily, with at least 300 families on a waiting list, she said.

The food bank's outreach director Dr. Munir El-Kassem said as London's population grows amid a housing and affordability crisis, more services like this are needed to keep up with the need.

"I've been here in Canada for 49 years and when I first arrived, all of London at that time was 170,000 people, now it's close to half-a-million. And with the increase in numbers, the exponential increase in needy families is at a level that we really need to match," he said.

The charity takes on registered clients for a one-year period, where it provides them with employment assistance and other supports for newcomers to Canada. Its intake process includes a thorough interview to learn more about their family, job and financial situation, and looks at documents such as pay stubs and rent to better understand the help they need.

The goal is to wean people out of the halal food bank's services and accept more families on the waiting list, said El-Kassem, a retired dental surgeon and Imam at the Islamic Centre of Southwestern Ontario.

Kai Meloche, 23, started using the halal food bank earlier this year when she was unemployed and is now one of its volunteers. She said it's been extremely helpful at a time when finances are tight.

"It has been a big change for me with being able to budget better. The daily cost of living and price of food right now is a struggle for many families and so it's been a really great service to turn to when in need," said Meloche.

"I live by myself, unlike many others who may live with family members or have more services. Many people come [to Canada] alone, whether you are a student or a family so it's definitely difficult to settle in."

She spends her days packing items such as rice, chickpeas, lentils and others into bags for clients and adjust food quantities to fit the number of people in a family.

Both Meloche and Saleem have seen the difference the halal food bank has made firsthand in easing the stress people are experiencing.

"It's given some families mental relief because if they don't have to worry about food, they're able to do better job searches and focus on establishing themselves," said Saleem.