When you work at the St. Albert Food Bank and Community Village, every ounce of good news always comes with a pound of bad.
At the same time that executive director Suzan Krecsy finishes talking about how far a new provincial grant will go, she starts talking about how much busier the agency is and how bare the shelves are.
"It's going well," she began, her voice not entirely convincing. "It's busy."
She says an average of about 11,300 kilograms of food goes out to clients each month. Last month, 146 families took home 14,000 kg of hampers while only 9,500 kg came in. That's a one-month shortfall of 4,500 kg.
All of this is compounded by the annual Hunger Count conducted each spring by Food Banks Canada. The survey showed that usage was down here and around the area.
"That was an anomaly. The numbers are higher than last year. In August we were up 12 families which we were up from the year before, up from the year before, up from the year before … we're continuing the upward climb."
This anomaly means that the food bank might not get as much financial support as it needs. It all makes her job just a little bit harder.
Then there's the fact that donations always go down during the summer months when people are on holidays.
"We've actually got some bare shelves."
Last year, approximately 23,800 kgs of food was collected during the drive. Krecsy hopes for as much or more this year. She remains confident that donors will come through and help fill the shelves again in time for the three busiest months of the year.
"St. Albert is always generous. As long as we get the message out there, they'll respond."
She thanked everyone for their support, including the Gazette for including the brown paper bags in today's edition.
The bags are to be filled with non-perishable food items and left on doorsteps by noon on Saturday. Bags may also be dropped off at any grocery store or fire hall.
People can also drop off their donations at the city's fire stations and grocery stores. If your bag doesn't get picked up today, please call 780-459-0599 to arrange for pickup.
Volunteers are still needed for Saturday's event. If you are interested in helping as a driver or a runner, please call Dayle Swanston of the Red Willow Community Church at 780-458-4644. If you want to help sort and stack the items once they are brought to the food bank, call Krecsy at 780-459-0599 or drop by #30, 50 Bellerose Drive, right next to Canadian Tire.
The good news
Monday was money-day for Krecsy as she received a provincial Community Initiatives Program grant for $54,562. The money will be used to develop the second floor area of the Community Village into meeting rooms, a classroom and outreach office space.
"We were really excited because it's now the start to getting that second floor built. We're really forging ahead to the 'one-stop shop'," she explained, referring to the long-term goal of having a wide array of social services available to clients at this single location. She hopes that renovation will be completed by next spring.
The food bank is already well on its way toward that goal, especially after opening up the Community Village last year and installing community liaison worker Fay Lucy.
Lucy's job is to help clients get to the roots of their problems, even if they exist in diverse areas like financial, legal, psychological and medical. She is there to show people how to get the system working for them.
In 18 months, she has seen hundreds of people and been successful in getting at least 80 of their files moved to the inactive cabinet, meaning they have a better grasp on their lives and aren't currently in need of her services.
"That is absolutely phenomenal in the first year and a half of a program," Krecsy added.
Lucy wants to start offering a program, developed in conjunction with the Edmonton Financial Literacy Society, on helping people to be smarter about money. She has already seen how it can benefit her clients who face those diverse problems.
"Through this process, there is a lot of awareness, realizing that finances were not the only limitation in their life. Their thought processes, and their responses to finances were limitations," she began. "To be able to understand that, there were some really 'a-ha' moments."
Last year, the centre opened up its community kitchen to help show people how to stretch their food dollars to the maximum. Now, it also offers laundry and shower facilities for local residents who have no place of their own in which to reside. Currently, the number of homeless in St. Albert stands at about 26, including some families. That's the same as it was last year.
