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Food banks getting busier |
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Written by Lethbridge Herald
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Tuesday, 17 November 2009 |
There’s bad news for food banks just as they head into their traditionally busiest period.
Food Banks Canada, a national umbrella group, says the recession has forced more Canadians to rely on food banks, according to results from its annual survey, HungerCount 2009.
The survey showed food banks across the country helped 794,738 Canadians in March 2009, marking an increase of almost 18 per cent from March 2008, the largest year-over-year increase since 1997, when the organization began collecting data every March. More than nine per cent of those were first-time users of a food bank.
More sobering for food bank operators in this area, the largest increase was recorded in Alberta, where food bank use soared by 61 per cent. And the situation may be even more dire than the numbers suggest.
“It is likely that hunger in Canada is even more widespread than HungerCount findings suggest,” said Katharine Schmidt, executive director of Food Banks Canada. “For every person who turns to a food bank for help, several others in need of assistance do not ask for it.”
The increased food bank usage is evident in Lethbridge, too, where the Interfaith Food Bank and Lethbridge Food Bank have both seen their numbers rise.
Interfaith’s numbers jumped to 1,304 people served in March 2009 from 692 helped in March 2008. Interfaith executive director Danielle McIntyre said the numbers reflect an increase in people who recently became unemployed or who are underemployed, and added skyrocketing housing costs are a key factor in people’s struggle to make ends meet.
Newly tabulated statistics indicate 94 per cent of Interfaith clients live in rental accommodations, said McIntyre. Only 21 per cent of those are in social housing, with the remaining 73 per cent in private housing.
Sixty-four per cent of Interfaith clients are on government assistance programs, up from 51 per cent in 2008 and 47 per cent in 2007.
Lethbridge Food Bank has seen about a 30 per cent increase in usage and many of those are the underemployed, says executive director Mandy DeCecco-Kolebaba.
“We have really seen an increase in first-time users and the majority are families,” adds DeCecco-Kolebaba.
The same recession that is driving more people to food banks also works against the food banks’ efforts to obtain donations needed to provide services to people in need. Numbers released Monday by Statistics Canada indicated charitable donations were down 5.3 per cent in 2008 from the previous year, even though the number of donors increased by 1.7 per cent.
“It’s kind of a Catch-22 for food banks,” says McIntyre. “When people have lots to give, we get lots. . . People are still giving, they’re just not giving as much. But I think the spirit of giving and sharing is still there. I can’t express gratitude enough for the community. Lethbridge comes through.”
DeCecco-Kolebaba echoes the thought, noting the community always seems to rise to the occasion to ensure people don’t go hungry. “We’re lucky we live in a community where nobody wants to see that happen. It takes a community to keep it going.”
Local food banks are hoping the community is able to come through again as it heads into the Christmas season. Interfaith Food Bank, the Lethbridge Food Bank and the Salvation Army are once again teaming up to provide Christmas hampers to needy families in Lethbridge and DeCecco-Kolebaba expects some 1,300 hampers will be needed this year.
“We do it for the kids,” she says. “We want to make sure the kids have Christmas.”
People interested in helping can visit the website www.christmashope.ca.
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