Donations cover only two days worth of goods

Tracey Finklestein
Special to the Et Cetera

The food bank at North Campus cannot alleviate the hunger of those in need, the Humber Students Federation said.
“We provide students and their families with two days worth of food,” said the HSF’s vice-president of administration, Alan Desimpel. “Humber cannot give food for the entire week because we do not have enough.”
Fifteen students are registered with the food bank, a 50 per cent increase from last year. The bank depends on donations from the North York Harvest Food Bank, which helps the college’s bank about six times a year when supplies run out.
Despite organized food drives at Humber throughout the year, where students can donate canned goods alongside other nonperishable products, it isn’t enough for some according to North York Food Bank director Kate Warwick.
“Even though people come to the  food bank they may still be at risk of experiencing hunger,” Warwick said. In such cases, HSF refers students who need more than the available amount of food to North York.  
The Humber Food Bank has a wide selection of canned food, Desimpel said. The most popular is canned meat and fish, pasta, and rice he said.
“We only carry canned goods,” he said. “We cannot carry perishable foods right now because we do not have the facilities or space for it.”
 Students in need of food must fill out an application listing their income and expenses. Once registered, the student receives an identification number. “The only thing you have to show is that you are in financial need and a Humber student,” Desimpel said.  
Desimpel added that the college can only accomodate one location right now at North , and even that is stretching resources.
“We do not have the space to have three different stores,” he said. “That is one sacrifices we have to make.”
The HSF Food Bank is open to students Monday and Friday 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
For the rest of the week the room becomes the used book store and the Humber Hawk shop, Desimpel said.