[URBAN NOTE] "Hunger an issue for one in eight Toronto region households, says new report"

[rfmcdonald]

May Warren of the Toronto Star reports on food insecurity in the Greater Toronto Area.

For Gary Williams, one of the best parts of the day is getting to meet the people from all over the world who come in to the Daily Bread Food Bank.

The 35-year-old volunteers two days a week there and encounters people from Ukraine, Sri Lanka and, last week, a Syrian refugee couple.

Many don’t speak English, but he uses Google Translate to welcome them to Canada and ask them about their children in their own languages.

“That’s how I really get to know people, it’s how I can understand them,” he said during a break from signing in clients.

Williams would love to explore more of the world, but “money has been tight” for his family of six. He uses the food bank himself, picking up “necessities” like frozen meat, Kraft Dinner and cereal whenever he has a shift, trying to stretch his household budget to make ends meet.

He’s not alone.