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“We are seeing people who used to be donors to food banks now becoming clients of food banks”
Iuliia Bashtanova prepares food hampers at the Edmonton Food Bank on July 28, 2022. Photo by Larry Wong/Postmedia
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Edmonton’s Food Bank says the number of people needing its help has nearly doubled since June 2020, and demand is now outpacing donations.
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The lasting fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic and rising costs mean that in June, the organization helped 34,867 people through its hamper programs, the largest number in its 41-year history.
Executive director Marjorie Bencz said Thursday food collected during a 2021 campaign has been used up, so the food bank has had to spend more than $1 million on new stock.
“The Food Bank being in one situation is bad enough, but I just feel really sad that more and more people need us because I would like to see less people needing us,” said Bencz, noting it’s always better when people can make their own Food choices at the grocery store.
“It would be nice if people just had a little bit more (money) in their pockets,” she said, adding that governments need to look at affordable housing availability, and ensuring that people relying on government programs are getting enough to pay the rent and feed themselves.
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Iuliia Bashtanova, a business owner who came to Alberta from Ukraine in April, became a volunteer at the food bank, got skills training through it’s Beyond Food program, and now works full time for the organization.
Her husband also works, but with three kids, the cost of rent and $300 per month in car insurance to pay, she said her family takes advantage of the food hamper program.
“It’s the largest support for us right now,” she said.
At a news conference Thursday in Leduc, NDP Leader Rachel Notley continued to call on the government to return to the legislature to better address rising costs, estimating that re-indexing government benefits and income tax brackets could put up to $400 back in the pockets of families who need it.
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Arianna Scott, CEO of Food Banks Alberta, said at the NDP conference that all of the 107 food banks across the province the association represents are seeing an “alarming” increase in demand.
“Those who were barely scraping by before just can’t make it work now.”
Scott said the majority of food banks are reporting clients citing utility costs, unemployment, inflation, the rising cost of food and static government benefits like employment insurance as the reasons they access food banks.
“We are seeing people who used to be donors to food banks now becoming clients of food banks,” said Scott, who called on the government to recognize that food insecurity is a major issue that food banks can’t address on their own.
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Edmonton’s Food Bank doesn’t receive ongoing government funding, but the province did provide $5 million to food banks and community organizations at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, and another $1 million in 2021. Scott said those grants were the first time the Alberta government offered money specifically for food banks.
Paul Hamnett, press secretary to Finance Minister Jason Nixon, noted in a statement Thursday the government has committed more than $2 billion in relief, including a 13-cent-per-liter gas tax holiday, six monthly $50 electricity rebates and a natural gas rebate expected to begin in the fall.
“We are doing everything we can to help families get the support they need to pay rent, buy food, find and keep appropriate housing and care for their loved ones,” he said.
For its part, Edmonton’s Food Bank is in the midst of a summer food drive, including at the Heritage Festival. Non-perishable food can be left at groceries stores, and donations can be made and volunteers can sign up on its website.
“If it wasn’t for the community providing those kind contributions of volunteer time, or food donations and monetary donations, we wouldn’t exist,” said Bencz.
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