Rising hunger needs within Canadian communities is putting pressure on community organizations, leading Second Harvest to highlight how people and business can help.

Second Harvest is Canada’s largest food rescue organization working with thousands of food businesses from across the supply chain to reduce the amount of edible food going to waste.

A new survey, called The State of Food Charity in Canada, shared that 89 percent of surveyed organizations had seen an increase in demand for food over the past year. One in three of the organizations said they had a waitlist for support, while 35 percent said they’ve had to turn people away because they didn’t have the food or resources.

Katherine Hepp, Second Harvest’s operations manager for Saskatchewan, says the issue isn’t how the community organizations are using resources, but that they need more resources.

“One really practical piece of that is food rescue. There is good nutritious food that is already available that would otherwise go to waste, and we can redirect that food to organizations that are serving people and their communities.”

Hepp says through the Second Harvest Food Rescue App businesses, farmers, and producers with a surplus of good to eat food can get connected to organizations, such as the Friendship Inn or Saskatoon Food Bank.

“Where you can reach out to Second Harvest directly to begin donating right away, that food can make a real difference. We have food and we have people who need it and the opportunity really lies in connecting those two things.”

Individuals can also help by talking about food insecurity in their community, donating to an organization, or volunteering at an organization.

Meanwhile, on Thanksgiving weekend thieves broke into Second Harvest’s truck yard in Etobicoke, Ontario then cut through the exhaust systems and stole the catalytic converters from seven of its trucks. Surveillance video appears to show two suspects approaching the fleet on Oct. 11.