On any given Friday morning, the Daily Bread Food Bank and New College’s Wetmore Hall is bustle of activity.

If the food bank’s truck hasn’t shown up by 8 a.m., U of T’s Student Food and Clothing Bank’s volunteers and employees mill about awaiting its appearance.

They have every reason to be impatient, because by 12 p.m., Wetmore Hall’s basement must be up and running to serve the long queue of U of T students and their families.

Terri Nikolaevsky, SAC’s director of student services explained that “as soon as you display need, and are currently enrolled at the university, then you are welcome to use the facility.

“Although there are several food banks in the immediate community, what makes the U of T food bank unique is that we provide users with them a comfortable and non-invasive environment.”

“Being a student often means that you live on a tight budget,” said employee Nishant Fozdar. “So having the food bank on campus is great because students save $20 to $40 every week, which makes a huge difference financially.”

Over the past few years, Nikolaevsky has seen “a steady increase in the number of people who use the Food and Clothing Bank.”

To raise funds for the food bank, alumni Jason Murphy and Janine Murphy have staged a U of T Christmas Carol for the past four years.

“We have sold out each year,” says Jason Murphy. “All funds raised by the U of T Christmas Carol are donated to the U of T Student Food and Clothing Bank.”

“The previous four Carols have raised more than $30,000 for the food bank.”

This year marks the end of Jason and Janine’s leadership role for the Carol, but the pair hopes the event will continue under new stewardship.

“As Janine and I move on to other projects, we have ensured that Hart House and SAC take on the leadership role for the Carol in order to make it a campus tradition.”

This year’s reading will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 6 in the Great Hall of Hart House. Tickets are $15 for students and $20 for non-students, available from the U of T Tix Box Office at www.uofttix.ca