Demand to fill the bellies of people struggling to make ends meet in the current economic slump is causing stress for a local food bank.
The Oilfields Food Bank is experiencing a significant climb in requests for food from families and individuals in the High Country region and the supply is quickly running low.
Food bank volunteers distributed 111 hampers in April, compared to 62 the same month in 2015 and 47 in 2014, said Oilfields Food Bank president Glenn Chambers. Of the recipients, 195 were adults and 67 were children, he said.
“At this time last year we would have had ample food on the shelves,” he said. “This year we are running through food very quickly.”
Successful food drives six months ago by the Black Diamond, Turner Valley and Longview fire departments, which typically collect up to 5,000 pounds of food annually have already began to run out.
“In previous years it’s lasted us almost the whole year,” he said. “For the first time before June we actually had to go out and buy things that we would not normally have to go buy.”
Items in short supply include canned meats and vegetables, he said.
In addition, the Oilfields Food Bank is seeing a drop in month-to-month giving this year, putting further strain on the supply, Chambers said.
“In past years we have been able to build up reserves,” he said. “Now we are operating on reserves. We do have financial resources to take us through the years… because we have been able to build up some reserves to help us in the good times and bad times.”
In a typical month, the Oilfields Food Bank distributes $6,000 to $8,000 worth of food to 40 to 60 individuals and families and purchases about $2,000 worth of perishable items and items in short supply.
In April those numbers doubled.
Chambers said first-time users of the food bank are on the rise as many people in the region have lost jobs and are struggling with the increasing cost of living.
“I’ve had people say, ‘I’ve got 35 application out there and no one will call me back because there is just no work,’” he said. “Everybody is feeling the crunch and it’s hitting people’s pocketbooks.”
The Oilfields Food Bank is receiving requests for other expenses like fuel, said Chambers.
“We get a lot of requests from people, ‘Can you put some fuel in our vehicle so we can look for work?’” he said. “We, as a food bank, don’t do that, but we do have other organizations we know of in our community that will do that.”
The Millarville Community Church is one of many groups helping individuals and families in the area who need more than just food on the table
Pastor Allan Burney said most churches have a compassion or benevolent fund for such situations.
“We try and help with any sort of situations that are outside of the realm of the food bank,” he said. “The expectation is where possible that if there is an identifiable need that goes beyond what the food bank can do we will try to step in.
“Sometimes it will be cell phone bills, gas or electric bills.”
Burney said the church sometimes receives requests for emergency housing and is in the early stages of developing a program to provide temporary affordable housing to families in need while helping them with budgeting skills to get back on their feet.
“That’s going to take a while to bear fruit,” he said. “It will be well into next year.”
While understanding these are tough times, Chambers said volunteers discourage people from relying on the food bank and offer ideas for other resources to encourage people to work their way towards success.
Those who use the food bank are restricted from getting hampers more than once a month and more than six times a year, he said.
“If you don’t challenge people on those things it’s just the status quo,” he said. “Some people need a nudge.
“We don’t want to make the food bank an enabler, but an encourager to move to a higher level and quality of life.”
The Oilfields Food Bank is in the basement of the Lewis Memorial United Church in Turner Valley.
To learn what food items you can donate, make a monetary donation or find out where to drop off your donation go to unitedchurchinthevalley.ca/food-bank.html
