Saskatoon free food programs jeopardized by inflation
With rising inflation across the country programs that provide free food in Saskatoon are contending with unprecedented need.
At the Friendship Inn they’re used to serving breakfast and lunch to a thousand people a day.
Lately, it’s even more.
“Now our numbers have increased. Really increased,” said Sandra Kary, Executive Director of the Friendship Inn told CTV News.
They’re seeing about five hundred more people each day, which they attribute to a variety of factors.
“Housing security or income security,” Kary said. “If you’re trying to pay bills and stabilize housing, food is the first thing that you’re going to try and adapt with so that’s why we get more people.”
The reality that fundraising support may dry up because of the state of the economy weighs heavily on their minds.
“Hey, we still need help. We still need support and maybe we have to have a broader reach to more donors to actually meet our targets if in fact those donors have to tighten those belts too,” she says.
There’s a similar situation at The Saskatoon Foodbank and Learning Centre. This is not the usual time of year when they have a donation drive, but this year the need is so great.
“The price of gas; the price of food is hitting people hard, and we’re no exception here and we’re seeing the impact” said Deborah Hamp, Director of Operations at the Food Bank and Learning Centre.
“We’re seeing over 20,000 people a month,” she said. “The need is really urgent. People are really struggling and it’s really difficult to keep up with the demand,” she said.Hamp has seen many changes over her 12 years with the Food Bank, but this year is different.
“The impact of inflation is really concerning,” she said.
Last year they saw about 13,000 people coming in each month.
This year that has jumped.
“We’re seeing over 20,000 people a month,” she said. “The need is really urgent. People are really struggling and it’s really difficult to keep up with the demand,” she said.
The good harvest helped with fresh produce donations this year, says Hamp, but they are uncertain if it will be enough.
“The sheer number, the sheer volume that makes it really difficult to keep up with the demand on a daily basis.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.