Tough economic times sees Food Bank needs steadily rise
CARRIE KELLY I 78
t's not easy to walk up to the doors of the Medicine Hat Food Bank and ask for help, but it has become a necessity for more people than ever before.
Tammy Vanderloh and Celina Symmonds are co- executive directors of the
Food Bank and while 2015 was a record year for people needing the services of the organization, they don't expect demand to taper off in 2016.
For the most part, the increased need directly correlates to the drop in the price of oil. People are turning to the Food Bank for help after having been laid off and losing their regular paycheques.
"We had been seeing nine to 12 families a day and now we're seeing 42 to 52 families a day. We've got families that are unemployed and a higher amount of working poor," says Vanderloh. "I don’t think we've seen the maximum yet."
"We have families coming in who have never used the Food Bank before and were previously donors," Symmonds says.
In 2014, the Food Bank served 2,607 households and in 2015 that figure jumped to 6,375 households.
While some Food Banks pre-package boxes of food to give out, the Medicine Hat Food Bank is set up more like a store to allow families to choose specific foods they want and will actually use.
They're given two weeks worth of food,
including fresh fruits, fresh vegetables and dairy.
"We rely on farmers for beef donations and they get a charitable tax receipt for doing so," says Vanderloh.
The Food Bank starts the year with fully stocked shelves thanks to fundraisers like the Holiday Train, CHAT Food Drive and 18 Wheels of Christmas. Yet with so many families needing to access the groceries, the donations need to be constantly coming in.
Food Banks don't receive any government funding. Everything they have to give to people comes from fundraisers and private and corporate donations.
They also rely heavily on volunteers to help the program run.
"We have over 140 volunteers," says Symmonds. "They make sandwiches, get things packaged, perform warehouse duties, help clients shop for food and do administration duties."
The Medicine Hat Food Bank, which got its start in 1985 when the Fifth Avenue United Church gave out food hampers, is continually evolving and goes beyond providing boxes of food. The goal of the organization is to help families and individuals get through a low stage in their life and help them get on the path of self- sufficiency.
The staff has seen some third generation users of their services and have initiated programs that will hopefully change that.
Eleven families are part of a pilot project to help lift them out of poverty. Funding was
acquired to purchase freezers and crock pots for them, so they can make meals ahead and always have something ready to feed their families.
Those in the pilot project go through sessions on budgeting and the school division is tracking attendance and literacy levels of the children in the families that are involved.
The pilot project also involves attending cooking classes. Hillcrest Church donated the use of its kitchen and cookbook author and registered dietitian Joanne Smith was there to guide in making meals.
"Everything was put into freezer bags and they can be pulled out and put into the slow cooker," says Vanderloh.
The Food Bank also has a Kid's Lunch Program that has been in place for three years. It started as a pilot project with one or two schools and now 32 schools are served, with 500 to 700 brown bag lunches delivered each school day. The schools identify the students who are coming to school without a lunch and get permission from the parents.
Students receive a sandwich, fruit, vegetable and dairy product, such as yogurt or a cheese string.
"Food is a basic human need and the hope is that no one in Canada would ever go hungry," Symmonds says.
New for 2016, the Food Bank will begin planting a community garden in space provided by the City of Medicine Hat.
While there's a myth that there are people who abuse the services of the Food Bank, Symmonds and Vanderloh have not found that to be the case. Those who come to them show a bank statement and the Food Bank becomes more than a source of groceries to them. The staff and volunteers hear their stories and connect them with other organizations such as McMann Youth Services, housing services, drug and alcohol counselling and much more.
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