The latest hike at the gas pumps is having an impact on everyone across the board, including local nonprofits, especially those whose delivery services are relied upon daily.
Christine Hentschel with Calgary Meals on Wheels says it delivers about 5,000 meals daily with the help of both its staff and volunteer drivers.
“We have home delivery, school and community partnerships and programs that have been serving more than one million meals throughout our city each year for the last four years,” says Hentschel.
But with fuel costs hovering around $1.50 a litre on Monday, Hentschel says those prices will impact them both directly through their fleet of vehicles and fill-ups and indirectly through their groceries, which is about 40 per cent of their budget.
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Calgary Meals on Wheels has 13 fleet vehicles along with a network of around 450 volunteers who deliver meals using their own vehicles.
“A gas price increase for us also means a gas increase for them,” says Hentschel. “So we do try to mitigate some of those burdens by using our gas rebate program to help our volunteers but unfortunately, in the past, we have seen oil prices and gas prices influence our volunteerism.”
Meanwhile, many Calgary drivers tell Global News that with the recent hike at the pumps, they’re likely to be a little more cautious about how much they’re squeezing into their tanks.
“Normally because of the price right, normally I would fill it right up in the past right. But not anymore,” says resident Dave Chan.
High school student Aimee Layzel says if prices remain high, it could get to the point where she may stop driving to specific places and start asking her passengers to pitch in.
“I’ve been driving my friends around a lot more people have been asking for rides, so that’s a tough one,” she says.
“I’m definitely not giving out rides for free anymore,” she adds.
I thought Albertans make more money than the rest of the country. Gas should be $5.00 a liter in Alberta. Y’all can afford it