Food bank need 'blew me out of the water', says chaplain
CBC
More people are turning to food banks to feed their families, and fewer are able to find room in their monthly budgets to give.
Food Banks Canada released the 2022 Hunger Count Report on Thursday.
In P.E.I., the report doesn't show a big increase in food bank use — but Mike MacDonald, manager of the Upper Room Food Bank and Soup Kitchen, said things have changed dramatically in the last few months.
"It is just a snapshot of that month," MacDonald said. "Really May, June and July is when we started to see our numbers really increase."
June was a big month for the food bank, with more than 800 families coming in. Normally, demand increases heading into winter, and at the start of the school year.
Then in August, more than 900 families needed help.
"It's way too many people, but if you need help, please come in," MacDonald said.
When MacDonald compared May of 2021 to May of this year, he saw a 40 per cent increase.
It's much the same story at the UPEI food bank.
"September blew me out of the water," said Sister Sue Kidd, campus minister at the Chaplaincy Centre at UPEI. "Our numbers were almost 800 for the month of September."
She said in the past, maybe 20 or so students would come in over the month.
"If they need help, they come," she said. "We try to provide an environment where they can come to de-stress."
Despite what Kidd describes as robust donations, she said need is outweighing the giving.
"I keep thinking we are full, we are good for a while, but then 90 students come to the food bank, or last week more than 120," she said.
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