Demand doubles at Moose Jaw Food Bank but donations not keeping up

Moose Jaw, Sask. -

Demand has doubled over the past two years at the Moose Jaw food bank but donations have not been keeping up.

The food bank has now been forced to cut back on the amount of food each household receives.

Jason Moore, Moose Jaw Food Bank’s executive director, said that the increased cause of living seems to be causing more stress on families who don’t normally access the service.

“We are noticing more and more full time employed people accessing our food bank that didn’t access the food bank and that shouldn’t necessarily be accessing the food bank in such a wealthy country. So there’s a problem here that we need to fix,” he said.

There are 800 households that rely on the Moose Jaw Food Bank monthly, double the number from two years ago.

“I’m a family support worker with a local organization and families that we work with really rely on these donations,” said Mikayla Dinnell, a support worker.

There’s even talk of closing temporarily. Volunteers are concerned for those they help.

“Just being able to help these families and make a big impact on the community. I want to see that keep going,” said volunteer Joshua Kelly.

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The NDP visited the food bank to assess the situation.

“The most shocking part of this is 40 per cent of the clients accessing the food bank are children,” said NDP MLA Meara Conway.

Brian Sykora and his girlfriend have been using the food back since their harrowing escape from a 2023 house fire that claimed two lives.

“I have nothing. Virtually me and my girlfriend have nothing so we come here to get food from the food bank and it’s needed. There’s so many people here that need the food,” he said.

For now, Moose Jaw Food Bank clients will receive one food hamper per month rather than two. It’s hoped that will stretch supplies sufficiently to keep the doors open until food donations pick up in the fall.