UNITY,WILKIE,LUSELAND,KERROBERT--Community food bank shelves do not fill themselves. They rely on the generosity of community members for food and monetary donations to keep the shelves full for those who are in need.
Saskatchewan Food Banks help feed more than 20,000 people every month and a sad statistic is that children make up just over 40 per cent of the people community food banks help feed.
Current inflation rates, higher food and fuel prices have diminished buying power of family income, or even the buying power of donation dollars for community food banks, makes it an all-around struggle for all, as the demand and need for such an organization is being driven up by economic factors.
Tomi Watt, of the Unity Food Bank says their current meat inventory is good thanks to a donation of a whole pig, another donation of 30 packages of hamburger as well as someone who had recently cleaned out a freezer.
Watt says monetary donations are more common these days and are helpful for buying what is needed as well as for gift cards towards milk and fresh product purchases.
While Unity’s Food Bank has not had a big food donation in a long time, Watt says she knows October usually changes that with Thanksgiving donations from schools, businesses and churches. As well, the high school’s Halloween Scare Hunger campaign is always of great benefit to replenish shelves.
Both food stores in Unity have collection bins that are picked up regularly. Outside of these drop off points, the best phone number to call to arrange a donation is 306-228-8287
Community Food Banks say if residents do not know anyone using a community food bank, then they might think there are not any people using it, however this is absolutely not the case.
Watt also commends Delta Co-op for donating 15 loaves of bread each Monday. As well, Unity’s Food Bank is always grateful for business incentives that benefit the food bank such as the recent donation by North West Terminal through a cash donation drive among their employees, with the total dollar amount raised matched by NWT.
Things there never seems to be enough of and is not always an affordable extra for families in need are dish soap, laundry soap, toilet paper, soup crackers and condiments, especially ketchup.
The Unity Food Bank, in addition to groceries on hand at their location, provides a $40 gift card for families of three or less and two $40 gift cards for families of four or more to purchase milk and fresh produce.
In Wilkie, there are five dedicated members who help run the community’s food bank.
At present, they do not have a physical address, however, they are seeking a place where the group can house non-perishable inventory.
A WFB committee members says their organization mostly runs on monetary donations and those can be sent to Box 295, Wilkie, Sask. S0K 4W0. They are able to take product donations but until space is secured to store this inventory, they are limited to what can be taken in.
Posters are around Wilkie providing contact numbers for those wanting to submit a name or family in need, needing to be a resident of Wilkie with a physical address to qualify. From there, a WFB committee members goes to the co-op and purchases groceries for the person/persons, depending on what the need is. The recipient is then contacted for pick up. Confidentiality is a priority for Wilkie’s food bank committee members.
“This year, we had some great members who planted garden produce to donate to WFB recipients, with some potatoes and tomatoes still available, and definitely helps with costs. As well, we are always brainstorming on ways to help our families while keeping the costs down,” a spokesperson says.
The Wilkie Food Bank spokesperson adds, “We are a small group trying to help our community. Because of the lack of space to store extra food we have to rely so much on monetary donations, which leaves our organization not being able to help our families as much as we would like. And, with the cost of food going up, this is starting to be a challenge. We are not a government-funded food bank, so it is just the generosity of our donors that keep us moving forward. We are looking into other avenues of funding, but nothing has been confirmed. It's hard in smaller communities to keep these things running as there is always extra expenses that come with getting registered so we can get more funding. We would rather see our donations go 100 per cent to our families and not into admin costs.”
In addition to the work the Luseland Food Bank committee do there will be a community food drive undertaken by volunteer Andy Finley. Finley is presently establishing the event with volunteers and will be handing out bags to every house in Luseland either Oct. 17 or 22. The community is invited to fill or add items to these bags and collection will take place on Halloween from 5 to 9 p.m. Postcards will be attached to distributed bags to explain the food drive.
Knowing it is a big task for the seniors on the food bank committee, Finley has arranged for children, including her own, to sort the product collected for damaged, open or expired product and will then deliver the community wide collection to the food bank’s pantry. If residents have questions, they can call Finley at 306-371-6233
Barb Klinger of Luseland says there are four dedicated volunteers who run their community’s food bank. Donors can drop off product in the drop-off cart in front of the Family Foods grocery location, and monetary donations can be left at Luseland Credit Union.
Klinger says, “The food bank is run on donations of food and money. We are grateful for all the support, as it enables us to help those families in need.” If someone is in need or wants to make a donation, they can contact Victor or Marianne Delhommeau at 306-472-4832, Marj Thurn at 306-372-4603 or Klinger at 306-372-7653.
Kerrobert Food Bank, chairperson Carol Grosskopf recently posted on social media stating they can always use canned meat, hamburger or tuna helper, dish soap, small jugs of cooking oil, pasta sauce, chunky soups and laundry soap. Donors can contact Carol Grosskopf to either meet at the United Church for drop off or bring to her home. Extra garden potatoes and carrots can get to those who are in need.
The Kerrobert and District Food bank serves Kerrobert and Dodsland with a six-member volunteer board. Board members included Carol Grosskopf, Calvin Ressler, Lorainne Cholin, Bonie Sesfren, Karen Zinger, Trina Duhaime and newest member, Yvonne Schlosser.
Grosskopf says, “We are located in the Kerrobert United Church which is a big benefit to our organization as no rent is charged and we have the use of a deep freeze and fridge as well as shelf space. We are open the second Tuesday of the month and we do emergency requests in between, as well as our Christmas hamper season.
“We are thankful for our community fire department who accepted food and monetary donations at their Oct. 6 open house and barbecue, which resulted in a sizeable donation.”
As well, the organization appreciates the commitment of the school for their scare hunger campaign, assigning certain items to each grade so a variety of product can be collected.
Grosskopf also commends the community as she says when the food bank is running low, a donation drive will be held at a hockey game or amongst the churches when an additional need arises.
“October and December we likely receive our most donations but not so much the rest of the year. Our gratitude goes out to regular donors who make cash donations each year, which is appreciated as it helps buy fresh product like bread, milk, eggs, fruit and meat if needed,” says KFB committee.
