Last week, it was reported that new data from Food Banks Canada suggests more people than ever are facing the decision to use local food banks. An annual survey of food bank use in Canada was made and it was learned that more than two million visits in March of this year, which is nearly double the monthly visits five years ago in March of 2019.
Brenda Hammond, Salvation Army food bank operator says we're also seeing the same increase in numbers.
"We're registering about eight to 10 new families each month now. And people who are low-wage earners, or if they've been laid off from work, they are coming in and registering. For October, we served 286 families and that's not including emergency situations. It's hard now. One lady said that they cut back to only eating out once a week. Then four months later, their credit cards were max'd out and they didn't have enough money to pay their hydro bill. And she said, 'We realized that we needed to cut way back much further.'"
So it is definitely record numbers for food bank use in Portage la Prairie.
"We use the link to Feed Computer Program and that's the same program that the Bank of Canada uses. Our numbers are part of those 2 million. I don't see that changing anytime soon. I think we just need to keep on and we need to get smarter. We need to get more careful about our expenses and make sure that we're not overspending. It's not an easy thing to scroll back. If we get a little extra money, boy, you know, it just disappears. But if we get a little less money, it creates all kinds of havoc."
She outlines the factors that have led to this staggering number.
"Groceries, rent; just overall expenses. If you try to repair something, it costs more. I think all kinds of services are way more money. And there just isn't enough money to get that all done now. So, we have a lot of fixed expenses that are, kind of, designed for when we have more money; the cost of our funds. It's the kind of car we purchased. Those are fixed expenses. When our income goes down, then it's very hard to balance that out and keep on keeping everything paid."
Last week, new data from Food Banks Canada revealed that more people than ever are relying on local food banks. An annual survey of food bank usage in Canada showed more than two million visits in March of this year alone, nearly double the monthly visits recorded five years ago in March 2019.
Hammond says the same increase is happening locally.
“We’re registering about eight to 10 new families each month now. People who are low-wage earners, or if they’ve been laid off from work, they’re coming in and registering. For October, we served 286 families, not including emergency situations. It’s hard now. One lady told me they cut back to only eating out once a week. Four months later, their credit cards were maxed out, and they didn’t have enough money to pay their hydro bill. She said, ‘We realized we needed to cut back much further.’”
It's record numbers for food bank use in Portage la Prairie.
“We use the Link2Feed computer program, which is the same one Food Banks Canada uses. Our numbers are part of those two million. I don’t see that changing anytime soon. I think we need to keep going, get smarter, and be more careful about our expenses to avoid overspending. It’s not easy to scale back. If we get a little extra money, it just disappears. But if we get a little less, it creates all kinds of havoc.”
She outlines the factors driving this increase in food bank reliance.
“Groceries, rent—just overall expenses. Even simple repairs cost more. I think all kinds of services are way more expensive, and there just isn’t enough money to cover it all now. We have a lot of fixed expenses, designed for when we had more income, like the car we bought. When our income drops, it’s tough to balance it all and keep up with payments.”
Hammond adds that great memories don’t have to come from spending lots of money. She says you can make memories with simple things that don’t cost much at all.