Port Cares, the Port Colborne Community Association for Resource Extension, is urgently recruiting volunteers to staff its Reach Out Centre and food bank distribution at 61 Nickel Street. The call for help comes as the agency reports record, “staggering” demand for groceries, hot meals and school lunch kits driven by rising living costs in the Niagara region.
Volunteers can sort and distribute groceries, help prepare hot meals and assemble school lunch kits for children. Last school year the program provided more than 15,700 lunches and 3,100 lunch kits; hot meals are served three times a week, with more than 90 adults and children typically attending each meal.
Christine Clark Lafleur, chief executive officer of Port Cares, said demand keeps rising while food donations decline. “We see it every day as more people come to us for help, while at the same time the volume of food donation is less and less,” she said in a release reported by the Welland Tribune.
Without volunteers, Port Cares says it may struggle to manage emergency hampers and to administer its once‑per‑calendar‑month food bank visits (a policy introduced in June 2024 as the agency balanced surging demand). Interested residents can apply online through the Port Cares volunteer application (https://www.portcares.ca/full-website/get-involved) and find donation drop‑off details on the same page.
Recruitment is ongoing and continuing into 2026 to help meet the needs of roughly one in eight local residents who rely on Port Cares services. Volunteers of all ages are encouraged to apply; adults with a few hours to spare each month are particularly needed to support vulnerable neighbours.
