Food Bank Friday: Oliver Food Bank’s client list and building expand

The Oliver Food Bank has been busy this year and their client list has ballooned.

“In the last six months, we’ve actually increased about 35 per cent of our total clients,” said Julie Van Dusen, Oliver Food Bank.

“It doesn’t go down, every week it’s several more new families and we expect that when we’re open this week and towards the holidays, it will continue.”

Van Dusen says that people from every walk of life are coming through their doors to register as clients and that the stress of the B.C. floods, wildfires, the pandemic and increasing costs in food is forcing people to use their services.

Not only has the Oliver Food Bank’s client list expanded, but so has their building. New fridges have been added to store, as well as fresh produce and more space to store food before it’s packed up and sent home with clients.

“We’ve been saving money and getting grants,” said Van Dusen.

“We were so crowded and it was becoming impossible to work, so we bit the bullet and started construction in the spring.”

To top it off, supply chain issues are making it especially difficult to secure certain items as they begin to prepare their holiday hampers.

“Right now it’s trying to get the supplies. The grocery stores will say, ‘Yes we can get that,’ then call us back and say, ‘Gee we can’t get right now,’ so we are challenged that way but I am sure that by Christmas we will be able to give out good hampers,” said Van Dusen.

You can help support local food banks like the Oliver Food Bank by donating to our Global Okanagan Your Okanagan Calendar Campaign.

You can donate in the following ways:

Online:

Through Food Banks BC.

By visiting this website, you will be directed to make a donation to the bank in your area.

Food Banks BC will send your tax receipt directly to your email once your donation is complete.

By mail:

Send a cheque made to the Food Bank of your choice to:

Global Okanagan, 342 Leon Ave., Kelowna, B.C., V1Y 6J2

In person:

At the Global Okanagan office at 342 Leon Ave., in Kelowna. We accept cash, cheque, credit or debit.

By phone:

Call our receptionist at 250-762-4535 or 1-888-762-4535 to pay by credit card.

When you donate online, by phone or by mail, we will mail your calendar(s) to you. Expect that they will take 10 to 14 days to arrive.

Please make a donation to the food bank of your choice in the Okanagan. Only donations of $30 and greater per calendar are eligible for a tax receipt.

Tax receipts for donations sent by mail, phone or in person will be receipted by the food bank you donated to. They will not be sent until the end of the campaign, which is Dec. 31, 2021.

Calendars will be available while quantities last.

This fundraiser is a collaborative effort between Global Okanagan and their partners.

— with files from Doyle Potenteau