BARRHEAD - The Barrhead Food Bank usage continues to rise, and there are no signs that the trend won't continue.
This is according to Barrhead and District Family and Community Support Services (FCSS) community and volunteer development coordinator Trisha Enman.
Although demand for the food bank's services has been high for the better part of the last two years, she said, the already high volume of residents seeking help has jumped up again since about February.
Part of the reason, Enman said, is that larger households are coming to the food bank.
"Whether that means people have been cohabitating to make ends meet, or we are just seeing larger families, we are not sure," she said. "Where we used to see a lot of one to three-person households, we now see more six or seven-person households. And that makes sense because food usage increases with every additional person in a household."
Enman added the increase in food bank demand was not unexpected.
In October 2022, FCSS executive director Karen Gariepy told Town of Barrhead councillors that the food bank was bracing itself for an increase in food bank demand and reduced their monthly food allowance budget from $10,000 to between $5,000 and $6,000 to get them over the hump. Then they started to receive their influx of donations they usually receive over the holiday season, which in turn, helps the food bank serve their clients over the remaining winter months.
Although Enman did not have firm numbers for current food bank usage, noting they were in the process of being tabulated, she said the number of calls for "box builds or hampers" on a regular food bank day has over doubled.
"Normally, we would get somewhere from five or six calls, but since about February, the number has increased to 15 to 17. That means there are 15 to 17 households, not just individuals, reaching out to food bank services."
Enman said the reason for the jump is a combination of everything.
She added many households were just on the edge but were managing despite the increase in grocery costs.
"But in February, when their utility bills started trickling in, with what for many were large increases in gas and power, they had to start making some hard decisions," she said. "In many cases, the need to keep their heat and power on won out over buying groceries."
Enman added with the rising cost of food, utilities and other daily living expenses on the rise, some two-parent working families, especially those with larger, young families, could no longer afford child care, and one parent had to opt out of the workforce.
"I think that plays into it as well," she said.
Community food drive
To help replenish their stocks, Enman said FCSS, with the help of volunteers and not-for-profit groups, is planning a community food drive for the Town of Barrhead.
Volunteers will drop off paper grocery bags donated by Pembina West Co-op at residents' front doorstep on April 3 from 6 to 8 p.m. Two days later, on April 5, residents are asked to put the bags filled with non-perishable food items outside their front door, which will be picked up by volunteers from 6 to 8 p.m.
As for if there are any specific items that the food bank is looking for, Enman said recently they have been short of canned vegetables, Hamburger Helper along with toiletry products such as soap, shampoo, and especially toilet paper.
Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com
