Increased demand for food this Christmas season

January 4, 2016

A recession means Edmonton’s Food Bank will be spending the majority of its energy filling hampers and feeding people instead of working on strategic plans established a few years back.

“Because of the change in economy … we know we’re going to be that band-aid for a little bit longer until we’re able to actually solve some more issues,” said Tamisan Bencz-Knight, manager of strategic relationships and partnerships with the food bank.

And a big part of that band-aid will be the continued generosity of Edmontonians and corporate sponsorship, such as the Shaw family, which operates Shaw Communications Inc. The Shaw family has committed $300,000 per year for each of 10 years to the Edmonton Food Bank specifically for food purchases. The family also made a $600,000 per year for each of 10 years commitment to the Calgary Food Bank.

“The last time we went through a recession like this, it did take us 10 to 12 years to get back on track to have smaller numbers,” said Bencz-Knight.

Donors stepped up to the plate throughout the year and especially this Christmas, says Bencz-Knight. Although the numbers are not yet in, she expects December’s hampers will easily match the 18,500 people supported in November. She anticipates January will hit 20,000 people. And just over one-third of people making use of the Edmonton Food Bank could be Aboriginal if self-identified figures from the May 2015 hamper count are anything to go by.

Bencz-Knight is confident that when figures are in for this season’s holiday campaign, which wraps up on Friday, the target will have been met: $1.4 million in monetary donations and 275,000 kg in food. In the past, that sort of giving has kept the food bank stocked until spring. But with the growing demand, Bencz-Knight says that target may only carry them through to mid-February or early March.

In 2013, the Edmonton Food Bank provided support for approximately 13,700 people per month. In the first five months of 2015, that number jumped to 15,580. In November 2014, just under 15,000 individuals were supported, which jumped by 3,500 in November 2015.

“Right now we’re meeting the demand … Edmontonians have really stepped up their donation game,” said Bencz-Knight.  “We were struggling to keep food on the shelves….We really didn’t have anything on the racks for our rainy day kind of support.”

Now the warehouse is filling.

Bencz-Knight says that even with the increase in need, families of five or less members received the same amount of food in their hampers, while larger families, those with seven to 10 members, saw a slight decrease of half to a full box.

“We did not want to reduce the size of our hampers, because that would mean individuals would have the potential to need us more often and with the volume of people we are trying to help, we needed to make sure that food lasted them to relieve some of the stress and pressures on our volunteers and staff here,” she said.

The Edmonton Food Bank was not the only operation to experience more people in need.

The Christmas Bureau of Edmonton was scrambling. With only a few short days until Christmas, the organization had only reached 55 per cent of its goal.

A plea went out for support.

“Citizens were absolutely wonderful in coming through for us,” said campaign director Darlene Kowalchuk.

The bureau set its goal at $1.7 million for food certificates or food hampers this Christmas for its clients. With its fiscal year running from March 2015 to February 2016, there are still two months left to raise the 15 per cent shortfall. Kowalchuk says some major fundraisers are planned but she doesn’t believe the bureau will fully reach its target.

Kowalchuk says the bureau knew more money would be needed for Christmas 2015 when setting its budget earlier in the year. But the need surpassed the anticipated 12 per cent increase, which means bills will come to slightly more than $1.7 million. In 2014, 64,000 people received Christmas hampers. This year that figure jumped to 67,000.

While the 2016 target has yet to be set, Kowalchuk anticipates another increase.

“I think unless a miracle happens in the world, I think we’re still going to see people in desperate need for 2016,” she said.

The bureau raises funds throughout the year for Christmas hampers, but finds that people don’t start giving until the colder temperatures hit and the snow flies. To help with that, the bureau has instituted a monthly giving program that can be accessed on its website.

Kowalchuk notes that by year’s end, people are hurting even more as “all the resources they may have had are completely gone.”  

The Christmas Bureau of Edmonton does not track need by ethnicity.

The Bissell Centre served over 1,000 meals on New Year’s Day in a course of two hours. Demand was up this year, says Darren Brennan, communications coordinator for the centre. The Bissell Centre has a high number of Aboriginal clientele.