OLDS — A surge of clients seeking assistance from the Mountain View Food Bank Society seems to have reversed a previous downward trend amid the height of the pandemic.
“We have seen an upturn and this upturn does not appear to be heading anywhere but up,” Rhona Segal, a volunteer and society spokesperson, told the Albertan early in August when asked whether the non-profit organization had of late been experiencing an increase in the number of people turning to the food bank for help amid soaring rates of inflation not experienced in decades.
Last year, Segal said the society distributed 2,874 hampers, which breaks down to providing assistance to 6,683 people – 4,722 adults and 1,961 children.
“At that time due to COVID, there was a slight decrease of 16 per cent” over the year prior, she said.
“However, 2022 is a different situation,” she added. “As of April this year, it is up about 17 per cent and climbing.”
Those statistics, she later clarified, largely represent the number of hampers that were prepared and distributed. But sometimes, there are clients who also require smaller top-ups in between hampers to pick up basic items such as bread.
“That’s a big one (too),” she said.
She attributed the noticeable increase over the past several months largely to levels of inflation that have far outpaced the average worker’s salary gains.
“With the economy and the cost of living being so high – and increasing so rapidly – there are many, many people that just cannot cover their own expenses and then they turn to us,” she said.
Asked what kinds of stories she’s heard from clients, Segal described “situations of great sadness or being discouraged about the situation.”
There is one common refrain among all of the different people they’ve helped.
“One thing that is extremely consistent, is about the cost of food in the grocery stores,” she said, adding the society has heard from many families who tell volunteers that making ends meet is becoming impossible.
“That’s a huge amounts of stress,” she said.
“It’s hard, you know. It’s hard for everybody. But thankfully, they do turn to us,” she said. “And we’re very grateful they do turn to us, because we want to make sure that everybody has the nutrition and support that they need.”
In order to continue meeting people’s needs, the society always welcomes donations in a wide range of items such as canned pasta, beans, tuna, meat, fruit and vegetables, as well as cereals and lunch items or snacks like cookies for children to bring to school.
But non food items people require on a regular basis are also welcome, she said.
“A lot of people do not know this, but we also try to supply people with personal care products,” she said, citing such examples as shampoos, conditioners, toothpaste, toothbrushes and soap.
Although slightly dented items that are still useable are welcome, the containers must be sealed in original packaging. And while client information is kept private, people requesting a hamper or top-up assistance must first be registered, she said.
“With people who are going to be new to our services, they do need to bring identification of some sort for themselves and if they have children, their children’s health-care cards will do,” she said.
However, she added leniency will be extended to those who might for example have recently relocated to Olds but don’t yet have all of their paperwork in place.
“Anybody who’s come from overseas, they have documentation which they can bring in. And anybody from out of province, bring your ID and we’ll see what we can do – we do not refuse anybody,” she said.
In response to a question about whether the increase the society has experienced is coming from new clients or existing clients – or perhaps even a combination of both – she said, “it’s across the board.”
“We have clients coming in who haven’t been there in let’s say about two years,” she said, adding there have also been new faces walking through the food bank’s doors.
The society is comprised of about 40 volunteers, including the board of directors.
“Over the course of 2022, it is estimated that it will be about 20,000 hours put in,” she said, adding that projection is based on the growing trend of people seeking help.
“All of our people working at our food bank here in Mountain View are unpaid,” she added.
That of course requires constant fundraising efforts, including a big drive coming up in September, she said, expressing on behalf of the society gratitude for ongoing support from the community at large.
According to the society’s website, less than five per cent of monetary donations received are allocated toward covering administrative costs, as a result leaving 95 per cent available to assist individuals in need.
“All of the purchases that we make,” said Segal, “it's all local. We don't go out of the county.”
The society serves citizens of Mountain View County and the urban centres within it with emergency food needs, including Sundre, Didsbury, Olds, Carstairs and Cremona.
