Central Okanagan Food bank sees increase in demand, drop in donations

As the busiest time of the year arrives, the Central Okanagan Food Bank says demand for support is growing faster than they can keep up.

“We are preparing for holiday hampers,” said Trina Speiser, the food bank’s development director. Staff say the need this year is noticeably higher, with Executive Director Trevor Moss calling the increase “huge.”

“Unfortunately, from this time last year to now, it’s a 19-per cent increase for us,” Moss said.

Much of that demand is coming from the region’s most vulnerable residents, children. Speiser says 44 per cent of the food bank’s clients are under the age of 15, nearly double the national average of 23 per cent.

Get daily National news

On Thursday, the Central Okanagan Food Bank launched its annual Holiday Hamper Campaign, which is expected to support more than 4,500 households in Kelowna and West Kelowna.

“Demand is real, it’s there,” Moss said. “It’s driven by the cost of living and the cost of food. We feel like a bit of a broken record, but that is the reality of where we are.”

The pressure is not limited to the Okanagan. The Saanich Peninsula Lions Food Bank near Victoria has begun turning people away because of a lack of supply. A hunger report shows food bank usage has climbed 32 per cent since 2019, while donations have declined.

• U.K. to start enforcing new travel permit rules for Canadian visitors
• Father charged with child abuse, torture after taking kids on winter hike in Utah

Moss says the hope is that the community steps up before the holidays so they can continue offering the same level of support.

“What we’re hoping for this holiday season is that donations meet the need so that we don’t have to pull back on what we’re offering,” he said. “We’ve been fortunate we haven’t had to do that over the last three or four years, but the pressure keeps building.”

He adds that even small contributions have a big impact.

“We want to remind people that when they give one dollar, that actually buys three dollars’ worth of food,” Moss said.

“We just got an amazing deal on turkeys, so if people give us $25, we can actually get two or three turkeys with that.”

• Here’s a timeline of Guilbeault’s decision to resign from Carney cabinet
• Canada avoids recession as GDP climbs in the 3rd quarter
• Consumers may not be feeling as ‘rosy’ as the economy appears to be
• Speculation on B.C.’s tanker ban ‘premature,’ federal energy minister says

• Francophone South School District requires form to request religious accommodations
• Canada commits more funding to crack down on extortion crime in BC
• YVR warns of Black Friday congestion
• BIV: Court-ordered home sales in Metro Vancouver have doubled