The Red Deer Food Bank is facing empty shelves at a time of year when donations — and demand for hampers — usually rises.
With the holiday season fast approaching, executive-director Mitch Thompson is worried that there isn’t enough rice, noodles, canned soup, or other food staples for the volunteers to pack food hampers. “We mostly have condiments, spices and some flour…”
A plea for donations on the food bank’s Facebook page states: “We have only a few days worth of food,” next to a photo of largely empty warehouse shelves. While volunteers are on standby, “they are going to need product to fill the boxes,” the post adds.
Staff and volunteers have seen a huge increase in community need over the last year. Thomson said, anywhere from 950 to 1,150 Red Deer households a month are now requesting food hampers, compared to a previous 10-year average of 600 a month.
“Our food donations have not increased but the number of people we are providing for has doubled,” he added.
As a result, volunteers have had to limit the amount of food going into each hamper. Thomson said a household of six will now likely only get enough food for three people because there just aren’t enough provisions to go around.
The affordability crisis is clearly impacting local families when “64 per cent of people we’ve seen in the last six months have only come in once or twice,” and have never used a food bank before, said Thomson.
He noted many of these recent clients are working people who are unable to put enough food on their table.
With food stocks so thin in the food bank’s warehouse, he hopes that Red Deerians who can afford to donate to the food bank at this time of high inflation will make a donations at any local grocery store, bring a cash donation at the food bank — or even start a small food drive in their neighbourhood.
Cash donations allow the food bank to buy what’s most needed, said Thomson, and the non-profit can also leverage its purchasing power. Non-perishable food can also be brought on Dec. 1 and 2 to the annual Stuff-a-Bus event at Parkland Mall, where a transit bus is filled with donations for the food bank and or Christmas Bureau.
The Christmas Markets at Parkland Nursery also accept food donations, as does Red Key Realty, said Thomson.
On a sour note, the Red Deer Food Bank is warning that a U.S. based scammer has been calling and pressuring area residents to make donations. “They are not affiliated with us,” stressed Thomson, who noted the Red Deer Food Bank never relies on telemarketers to press people over the phone for money.
Thomson only found out about the scam because an individual decided to bring a cheque for $5,000 straight to the food bank, instead of providing personal information over the phone to the scammer.
Police were notified about this false campaign.