Estevan's Food Bank disbursements are down slightly, following a provincial trend, but the local numbers are probably skewed somewhat due to last summer's flood, said Major Len Millar of the Salvation Army, who is the local food bank manager.
"The number of people we have interviewed and helped is down a bit from last year, but this last summer we had a lot of first time users," Millar said.
Across the province, food bank use was down by 8.8 per cent meaning 2,003 fewer people were needing to access food banks compared with the previous year. But that still left 20,655 people using food banks in Saskatchewan.
Millar said the Salvation Army conducts a Canada-wide food bank usage poll every year and that too, indicates a slight drop in users. That statistic he finds encouraging and he also is encouraged by the fact the donations to the food bank remain stable or slightly increased both at the local and national levels.
But that doesn't mean all is well since there are definitely growing needs.
"This is the first year within the past three years we've had to go out and make some purchases of things like meat and even a few non-perishable items," Millar said.
But for the most part, the local food bank is operating at a near normal pace although Millar noted there are fewer children involved in the mix.
"We have also been able to increase the hamper values. We've handed out about $37,000 worth of food and that doesn't include our give-away bread products we offer every day and the free cans of products that are nearing their best before expiry dates," the Salvation Army officer added.
"In those give-away products, we've provided over 3,000 units, but we don't know how many people that actually involves, but those are people who are using this service and aren't necessarily food bank hamper recipients."
Millar said the Estevan Food Bank interview process will involve 20 to 25 families in a typical month but during the flood months in May and June, they were up to 29 and 32 and peaked around 35 in July before resuming a more normal flow of requests entering the fall season. Overall, the requests and hamper disbursements are down about 15 to 20 per cent compared with 2010.
The food hampers are arranged in three stages with the small hampers filled for small family units while medium and large hampers are for families with multiple members. The small hampers are valued at $126 while the medium and large are valued at $212 and $257, respectively.
"When we get fresh vegetables, we put them out immediately and we also contribute to school food programs at the Estevan Comprehensive School, Macoun School and Weldon School in Bienfait," Millar said. "It's the Sally's Lunch Box program and it's meant more as a supplement, adding a little nutrition to what some students might have eaten already."
He said the local food bank will also supplement the Hillcrest School Breakfast Club if needed in the future. He said they are in communication with the schools with regards to nutritional needs.
"It's hard to focus on learning when you're really hungry," Millar said.
The Estevan Food Bank has always been and will remain as an emergency service for local and regional families or individuals.
"Our clients, they know they can't be reliant on the food bank all the time. Generally speaking three or four visits and then we expect them to not need the service," he added.
The bank is there for families who are, for instance, new arrivals and requiring some help until the first paycheque arrives or it might be a modest income family that is suddenly hit with unexpected medical, mechanical or housing problems and just had to make a decision that led them to the food bank.
"We interview the client every time and review the situation because we'll have requests coming from people who are simply passing through Estevan, so we need to know their circumstances. They might be running away from a difficult situation like an abusive relationship. We won't be out there counselling, we're just the food bank, but we will accept a lot of requests at face value and I really don't believe the service has been abused. There are only a very few who would ever even try to abuse the food bank service," Millar added.
Because Estevan doesn't have a hostel to help the homeless or the wanderers, the Salvation Army and other churches and organizations often find themselves assisting those needing a bit of help in getting established. Furnishings from the Army's Thrift Store can help them establish or in the case of flood victims, to re-establish in the community.
"We've been linking with the various newcomer associations which is beneficial to all. We are a resource agency so maybe we can help steer recipients in the right direction by helping them with some furnishings at the outset. Last year we provided about $45,000 in furnishings and food for that purpose," Millar said.
Assistance for flood victims continues unabated, he said. To that end, the Army has re-signed an agreement for additional warehouse space in a nearby building and Millar said he hoped that by this time next year, most of the flood victims will have resettled, at least in terms of finding accommodations, furniture and clothing.
"One thing I have noticed this year has been a lot more single people using the food bank ... fewer children, but more young adults and an occasional senior applicant," Millar said.
The interview and review process is necessary, he said, and the food bank has refused hampers to probably fewer than a dozen applicants in the past year.
"We're generally not prone to deny the service, after all, it's about regaining dignity and I can say first-time requests are very rarely denied. We might ask more questions on the second, third or fourth visits and those who request help understand that it is just a supplement service, but everyone has circumstances in their lives where they can't control the outcomes no matter what their past income may have been. If you treat people with respect, most will respond in kind," Millar said.
"We're all created in the image of God. There is poverty in Estevan, affordable housing is a problem and not everyone lands jobs that pay $20 to $25 an hour and that's pretty much what you need to earn to live here and some in the service industries don't make that," Millar said.
"There are still those living in tents and small trailers or in their vehicles. They are around and once it turns colder, we'll see more of them here. Some just have no way out. They are in the minority, but once it turns colder we'll get an increase in first-time food bank users. Many of them will use it just once and then get back on their feet, but we saw an increase in use when we had the extended road bans this past spring and summer and there wasn't work for a lot of people. Many of them were young people. A lot of young people didn't save any money for the rough patches. They know they should save a bit, but they don't, and they don't know where the money went, but it was gone and they were in trouble," Millar said.
That situation has eased now that the oilpatch is back to full operational mode, but it's a sure sign that in many lives there is a pretty fragile edge between have and have not. Two or three missed paycheques and sudden riches can easily turn to sudden poverty and that's where the Estevan Food Bank can help ease the pain while allowing recipients to retain their dignity because everyone needs help once in awhile.
