YK Salvation Army food bank in ‘desperate need’ of help

The executive director of Yellowknife’s Salvation Army says the organization’s food bank is in “desperate need of assistance” to meet demand.

Tony Brushett said the number of families the food bank serves has increased while the cost of food has risen and the number of donations has dropped.

“One of the biggest challenges we’re seeing is the number of larger families is increasing,” he said.

“We’re seeing a lot of cases that the increased number of households has to do with multiple generations living in the same house.”

Brushett said the food bank currently distributes hampers to around 100 families a week, double the number from last July. He said the organization recently purchased non-perishable goods worth $15,000, a supply that used to last three months but is now almost gone within one.

“That means we’re going to quadruple our spending this year, at the rate we’re going,” he said.

Part of the increased need, Brushett said, is families affected by last summer’s evacuations, which disrupted their income for weeks.

“For some of them, it sounds like they were just making ends meet before. When they came back with that loss of income, it made the difference for them having to use the food bank for the first time,” he said, adding many are still struggling to catch up.

Meanwhile, Brushett said many longtime donors are now struggling themselves and no longer able to donate as much food.

The Salvation Army is asking for donations of non-perishable food items including cereal, jam, soup, Kraft Dinner, rice, pasta, pasta sauce, canned meat, fruit and vegetables, peanut butter, hot chocolate and cookies. People can also donate money.

“The people here in Yellowknife have always been generous,” Brushett said.

“We could never do what we do here without the support of all of our Yellowknifers.”