‘Don’t let your neighbours fall through the cracks’: Saskatoon food drive underway

The citywide food drive is underway in Saskatoon for the month of May and the theme this year is ‘Don’t let your neighbours fall through the cracks.’

Executive director of the Saskatoon Food Bank Laurie O’Connor said they are asking the public to keep them in mind while doing groceries.

“We’re looking for the most nutritious food possible, lots of non-perishable items and hoping to stock our shelves the entire month.”

The food bank had a record month in March.

“Not the kind of record we want to break,” O’Connor said. “Close to 24,000 people using our services and we think that’s a trend that will continue.”

According to Saskatchewan’s consumer price index, the cost of food and living is the highest it has been in five years and is still climbing. From March 2022 to March 2023, the price of food in the province increased 9.7 per cent.

“Friends and neighbours could be struggling and so really thinking about not letting our neighbours fall through the cracks,” said O’Connor.

She added the food bank’s busiest months are during the summer when school breakfast and lunch programs aren’t available.

“When you are doing your own grocery shopping, feel free to put food into the bin if you would like to bring it down here if you want to have a chat with one of our staff, we are open to doing a tour as well.”

The community garden is also up and running and can easily produce 20,000 pounds of food over the course of the summer.

Financial contributions can be made at Saskatoon Food Bank & Learning Centre.