Moose Jaw district food bank suspends operation to fix building issues

The Moose Jaw district food bank will remain closed until old sewer lines and water lines are replaced, its operations manager says.

The food bank lin Moose Jaw is an older building, with older sewer lines in need of repair. 

Terry Smith, the operations manager at the food bank located at 270 Fairford St. W, says they have been dealing with plumbing problems since they moved into the building.  

"We've been having some sewer issues for the past couple of months after getting it snaked a few times, and then finally realizing that our lines aren't as good as we thought they were," Smith said.  

The aging sewer lines and waterlines are being replaced. 

"They haven't broken or anything yet," she said, "but we want to make sure that's taken care of all at the same time."

Smith estimated the cost of replacing the lines will be close to $30,000, and insurance will not cover the cost because it is a commercial property. The repair costs are left for the food bank to cover. 

"This is something that I know that we've been in the works of trying to raise a little bit of money for," she said.

 A GoFundMe site has been started by a volunteer to help offset some of the costs of the repairs. 

 "We've already reached I think around $4,000," Smith said.  

In 2023 the Moose Jaw district food bank helped 20,000 individual clients with food, and gave out close to 8,000 hampers, a major increase from the 4,000-5,000 hampers it handed out in previous years.

Smith said the closure of operations is having a huge impact on people who use their services to make ends meet. 

"Right now we can't offer any services," she said. 

"We're just kind of bringing in staff as needed just to do certain pickups, just so that we can start building up our food so that we can start handing it out when we open."