Donations up as food bank demand still spiking

The good news is that donations were way up at the St. Albert Food Bank in July.

“We’re an extra three tons of food over and above what we got last year at this time,” enthused Suzan Krecsy, the director of the agency, further clarifying that the exact figure was closer to 7,000 lbs. more in July 2015 than was received in July 2014.

The bad news is that client demand was also way up, topping 160 families for the second month in a row. Public need for the food bank has risen steadily over the course of the year with the tide cresting at 165 in June. By the end of last week, she had tallied 163 families that had accessed the food bank for the month of July.

That’s an increase from 114 families during the same month last year.

“There’s been a steady stream of people coming through. We’re seeing folks that have no idea how to budget because they’ve never had to. They just don’t know what to do.”

People are predicting that the situation is going to be this bad or worse for another year. The troubled economy is to blame.

“I think that the ‘R’ word is actually here,” she said, referring to these tough recessionary times of so many layoffs.

This means a huge spike in demand made all the worse during July and August when people go on vacations and donations typically dip into their lowest period over the year.

“In the summer, we don’t get too many donations historically but we’ve been able to make it through till September. You can see the difference. The hamper sizes are going down. They’re going down, down, down. That’s a worry as well.”

She’s hoping for a big push toward the annual food drive slated for Sept. 19. That helps cover their bases until Christmas, which is when the food bank often gets another round of big donations.

Lots of people have been donating their homegrown produce.

“Boxes and boxes and boxes,” Krecsy noted – even schools have been tending their gardens specifically for the purpose of donating the vegetables.

“We get hundreds and hundreds of pounds of apples, which is really good.”

She hopes that more people participate in this kind of fruit rescue to help stem the hunger in this community.

In between the food drive and now there is also the Gearin' Up for Grades/Tools for School event on Aug. 22.

“It’s incredibly expensive to send kids back to school,” she stated.

Participants will receive a new backpack filled with school supplies, a free haircut courtesy of MC College, some gently used clothing, Salvation Army Thrift Shop coupons for clothes, a free lunch and more. Those interested in attending the event must pre-register for their appointment by contacting either Krecsy at 780-459-0599 or community liaison worker Fay Lucy at 780-459-0585. People can also send an email to [email protected].

Krecsy has increased the number of backpacks that will be available in anticipation of higher demand this year.

For more details, phone the food bank at 780-459-0599 or visit www.stalbertfb.com.