Powell River Action Centre Food Bank released new statistics recently, and the numbers tell the story of food insecurity in Powell River.
“We had almost 5,000 visits between July 2017 and June 2018,” said Savanna Dee, manager of the food bank. “We served 1,170 individuals, including 327 children. Many of our clients are on disability or social assistance, and with high rent and hydro costs, sometimes they just don’t have enough left to get food for the month.”
The food bank provides food hampers once a month to individuals and families who meet a low-income threshold. On average, people received a hamper from the food bank four times last year. While single people were the most common clients, single parents and families with children were the next most common household type to need the food bank’s services.
“People come to the food bank for all kinds of reasons,” said Dee. “Sometimes they’ve lost their homes, or they have been laid off, or the family has split up, or they have fled an abusive situation with nothing. Whatever the reason, we provide them with food so they can get through the month.”
Need in the community has increased, which prompted the food bank to move to a larger space in April.
“We received a grant for refrigerators and freezers, which allows us to properly store donations of perishable items,” said Dee, “but we had no space for them in our old location. Our new location, just two doors up from where we were before, has room for a new 48-cubic-foot fridge and freezer, and lots of room for new shelves that can hold case lots of canned food without damage.”
The food bank relies on donations from the community of both food and money to continue operating, but Dee said monetary donations are down this year.
“We get the most donations during November and December and have to make that stretch until the next year, but we’re about $50,000 lower than we were at this time last year,” she said.
The community really makes things happen for the food bank, said Dee.
“Our motto is ‘feeding our community,’ and we need the public’s help to do that,” she added. “Food drives at schools can fill our shelves for a couple of months. Brown bag campaigns by churches help immensely, and money is always welcome, because we can access bulk purchases through Food Banks Canada.
“We just received a cheque from the workers at Western Forest Products, who have been on strike for half a year; they made and sold wreaths and boughs while they were on the line and donated the proceeds to the food bank. Every little bit helps.”
In this season of giving, Dee had a final message for Powell River.
“Thank you for everything you do for us all year,” she said. “We can’t do it without you.”
For more information or to donate to the food bank, visit between 10 am and 2 pm Tuesday through Thursday at 6816B Alberni Street, or go to powellriverfoodbank.com.
