The 2023 holiday season was a busy time for the St. Albert Legion and the St.Albert Food Bank, as they experienced increases in donations, volunteers, and families needing assistance. Both organizations say it was a record-breaking year in the number of donations received and hampers given out.
“We had an outstanding year this year,” said Doug DeLorme, past president of the St. Albert Legion. “We collected more food than we’ve ever had.”
The St. Albert Legion ran two events with the Veterans Association Food Bank and at Branch 271. The food hamper program with the Veterans Association Food Bank was to support veterans and their families, and their branch's program was for senior veterans.
DeLorme said 21 hampers went out to their veterans and families in 2022. In 2023, the Legion delivered 31 hampers to their senior veterans. The Legion also received $4,500 in cash donations for the food bank.
“It went a long way in helping our seniors who were at home by themselves, who were able to have a nice Christmas meal on behalf of the donations we got,” DeLorme said. “It was certainly unbelievable, the support that we got this year.”
Many people have been affected by the difficult economy, and that has meant more individuals looking for help. With the high amounts of food and donations over the holiday season, the Legion branch’s food bank was able to help people in need ranging in age from 20 to 70.
“We had an outstanding turnout of volunteers to deliver the hampers to our seniors, and we greatly appreciate it,” DeLorme said.
The St. Albert Legion has a year-round collection point at the branch for donation drop off.
St. Albert Food Bank's successful season
Like Legion, the St. Albert Food Bank saw increased donations and people needing assistance this past holiday season.
“We’ve never seen this number of clients coming in ever in the history of this place, and it opened in 1984,” executive director Suzan Krecsy said. “So, it has been exceptionally busy.”
While the amount of food and products the food bank received was the same as some past years, the number of hampers that went out increased, with 374,000 kilograms (825,000 pounds) of food going out in 2023. And the need has increased by 30.1 per cent since the 2022 holiday season.
The food bank's holiday demographic was a "real combination," with ages ranging from infants to 80-year-olds.
Krecsy said volunteers donated over 13,000 hours to their program, with a waiting list of people wanting to donate their time to the cause.
While the need has increased, Krecsy said their staff is ready for increases like what happened in the 2023 holiday season. The support of the St. Albert community has affected the organization in significant ways.
“I think it’s just really important that everybody in St. Albert understands that our families know that they’ve got their backs and that if we need anything, they are very, very responsive," she said. "But they’re also very respectful and thoughtful in their donations.”
