The Surrey Food Bank is having a challenging year and is desperate for donations to meet rising demand.
The food bank society says it has nearly exhausted its budget and has had to reduce the number of items distributed per household.
Demand is up more than 50 per cent in the last two years and donations haven’t been able to keep up with the number of users.
Amanda Chrysler says she has been using the food bank for about six years because the cost of food has risen so much.
“It makes it very hard for people who are low-income, and it keeps us in the poverty-stricken area instead of being able to go up in it,” she said.
Chrysler has two children and told Global News the food bank helps her give them fresh fruit and vegetables. But the selection has declined, she said, which makes it more challenging.
“We never get eggs after the children turn a certain age, which is very sad,” Chrylser said.
“The regular produce, like we only get one can of tuna. We don’t have the option of other canned meat. We rarely get actual meat. Vegetables used to be like six potatoes. And now it’s only, like two to three potatoes and stuff. It’s really gone down everywhere.”
She said they don’t get enough food to last a week and she has to get creative to stretch the food she does get.
Clients cannot return to the food bank for two weeks.
The food bank is mostly in need of fresh produce, dairy and meat, which are also the most expensive to stock.
Kim Savage, executive director of the Surrey Food Bank, confirmed to Global News that clients have been leaving with less recently.
“It’s not so much that overall donations are down,” she said. “It’s that there’s been such an increase in the demand for foodbank services. So, in the last year, our numbers have increased by 25 per cent and the year before, our numbers increased by 25 or so per cent. So that’s almost a 50 per cent increase in access of our services in the last two years.”
Savage said donations to the food bank cannot keep up with the demand.
She said that last year between 16,000 and 17,000 people used the food bank every month. This year they are seeing between 20,000 and 21,000 people per month.
“So, the big things that we’re really focussed on making sure that we can provide are things like fresh produce, milk, dairy, eggs, yogurts, that sort of thing,” Savage said.
“Different sorts of lean protein. So various kinds of meats, whether they be canned or fresh, those are the really nutrient-dense items that we’re trying to get in our client’s food baskets because those are also the most expensive items when you go to the grocery store. Our donors have been great about giving the staples like the pasta, the rice, those sorts of things. But we also need those fresh choices to really provide our clients with a good, wholesome basket of food.”
Savage said the food bank has been dipping into its reserves to buy some items such as meat, fruit, vegetables and dairy.
To donate to the Surrey Food Bank, visit their website.