HUMBODLT 鈥� The Humboldt and District Food Bank gives food to about 100 families in the community a month.
鈥淲e have noticed in the last little while that our number of large families 鈥� by that I mean six or more has decreased, but our number of single people has increased,鈥� said Shirley Weiter, board member of the food bank.
Weiter credits this in part to the number of families moving away for careers as well as situational changes.
鈥淲ith single people sometimes living on minimum wage isn鈥檛 enough for them, or they can鈥檛 find full-time work or they鈥檙e a senior and they鈥檙e living on a pension.鈥�
She said the food bank itself is doing 鈥渆xtremely well.鈥�
鈥淚 would say we probably have a greater amount of financial support from individuals during [this time of] the year, and part of that is due to the fact that Nutrien, the potash company matches donations to food banks.鈥� Weiter said. 鈥淚鈥檝e heard from many people that鈥檚 why they give at Christmas, because they know it will be matched by Nutrien.鈥�
During the holidays this year, Sobeys in Humboldt is selling Christmas bags 鈥� giving customers the option of purchasing a $5 or $10 bag. The food in the bag goes to the food bank.
No Frills is also participating in the holiday campaigns, with the food bank weighing the customer donations No Frills gives so that the store can advertise how much their customers raised.
鈥淭here are always organizations in the community who support us, they support us all year long but there are some special events.鈥�
Weiter said the food bank isn鈥檛 doing a specific Christmas hamper, and are leaving that to the Kinettes.
鈥淧art of the reason the food bank doesn鈥檛 do anything specific for Christmas or Easter is our clients can only come once every four weeks, so if we were to give somebody their Christmas hamper at the beginning of December, and they鈥檙e hungry, they鈥檙e not going to wait until Christmas.鈥�
She said to support the Humboldt Food Bank a person can make a food donation at any local grocery store or contact them at 306-231-9970.
鈥淎 family last week, instead of buying Christmas gifts decided they would take their money to buy turkeys and hams and they brought those to the food bank,鈥� Weiter said. 鈥淧eople do that. They also bring in or mail monetary donations so we have cash to buy things like milk and bread and fruits and vegetables. That sort of thing.鈥�
The food bank is open Tuesday afternoons from 2 until 4 p.m. Clients are not expected to pre-register. New clients require a health card for every member of their family, and proof of residency that they live in the area. The Humboldt area goes half-way to the nearest food bank.
