.jpg)
The Airdrie Food Bank has seen an increase year over year in purchasing food to provide for those in need.
Christine Arsenault, the marketing and communications manager at the Airdrie Food Bank (AFB), explained that the number of families they are feeding is still high.
"We're still feeding 700 to 800 families a week. There are just so many people who need food. We're still able to give them the same quality of hampers that we have always been giving out."
This past year alone, the AFB hamper program and pantry assistance program have risen by 33 per cent.
"43 per cent of the people that we feed our children still, so it's still 10 per cent higher than the national average."
She also explained that the food bank has seen an increase in dual or triple-family homes needing assistance.
"We're seeing a lot more, larger hampers, 5-6-7-8- people, rather than the typical 3-4 people hampers. "
With school just around the corner as well, the food bank is gearing up its school programs to help feed hungry students.
"This past school year, we provided 15,244 snacks and 13,975 lunches."
When asked about how much the food bank spends on food, she explained it is around $190,000.
"We're purchasing things that are normally donated, like mac and cheese and canned foods and tuna and things that we'd like to always have in our hampers."
September 20 is the city-wide food drive, which will help the food bank provide food until the holiday season.
To learn more about the food bank programs or donate, click HERE.
Sign up to get the latest local news headlines delivered directly to your inbox every afternoon.
Send your news tips, story ideas, pictures, and videos to news@discoverairdrie.com. You can also message and follow us on Twitter: @AIR1061FM.
DiscoverAirdrie encourages you to get your news directly from your trusted source by bookmarking this page and downloading the DiscoverAirdrie app.