The Calgary Food Bank continues to see an unprecedented increase in clients despite inflation dropping slightly last month.
“We never imagined that we were going to be at a point where we’d be feeding 650-700 households a day, but here we are,” Food Bank president and CEO Melissa From said.
Calgary’s annual inflation rate rang in at 3.5 per cent in April versus 4.2 per cent in March, but From told Global News that hasn’t made much of a difference for it, or the clients it serves.
“I know we love it when we see those numbers coming down a little bit quarter after quarter, but the reality is that horse has left the barn,” she pointed out. “We saw massive inflation in ’22. We saw massive inflation in ’23, so even if in 2024 we see it come down to a more moderate three or four per cent — it’s still compounding.”
“People are still suffering because of that.”
From added their clientele has also changed quite a bit. While clients used to comprise mostly of those who had lost their jobs or homes, now they’re “working folks,” families largely “doing everything right.”
“They have a job. They’re paying their mortgages. They’re doing all these things right and they can’t make ends meet? We feel so powerless in that.”
Calgary senior Blain Lamoureux also knows that feeling. The retired architect told Global News he has been forced to use the food bank just to make ends meet.
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“When I became a senior on a fixed pension, I started using the food bank,” he said. “If you go to the grocery store once a week, then you’ve got nothing left.”
Lamoureux said it may not be the quality or quantity of what he would get at the grocery story but he’s extremely grateful.
“We’re lucky to get anything,” he added.
Keeping up with demand
The Food Bank has had to ramp up its services to meet ramped-up demand.
This past weekend, that involved shutting down its online ordering system — something that upset some clients. People were told to phone the emergency number to place a request for a hamper, but that ended up putting pressure on the phones lines resulting in some problems.
“Every once in a while, that will happen that a call will get dropped because we simply don’t have capacity within our circuits to hold that many calls,” From explained.
The system is now online, and orders are being filled as quickly as possible From added.
From said the “near future” looks challenging as the Food Bank struggles to keep up with all the Calgarians struggling. She’s encouraging Calgarians, who can, to either donate food or money to help ease the squeeze for others.
In the meantime, From said they’re doing what they can.
“We’re just doing what we do every day, every year here at The Calgary Food Bank. We are packing food hampers, and we are getting people out the door with the groceries they need to feed their families.”
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