Bare shelves at the food bank

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/11/2014 (3443 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There’s always a need for food donations at food banks but that need is much greater now at South East Helping Hands in Steinbach.

“We have enough supplies to last until the end of February if we don’t get any more donations,” said Board Chair Hank Klassen, eyeing the bare spots on the shelves.

That may not sound like a big problem because there is a steady stream of donations coming into the food bank that serves the Southeast. The reason for concern comes from the increased number of families needing to access the food bank.

“We usually have around 220 food hampers that get picked up every two weeks,” Klassen said. “That number has jumped to 250, even up to 260 hampers.”

Since spring, 270 families have been added to the registry which brings that number to 1,300 families or around 5,000 people. The donations have remained steady during this time but that has not been enough to keep up with the need.

“Before we got donations from FCC’s Drive Away Hunger Campaign, we were within two weeks of not being able to give out hampers,” Klassen said. “This is the lowest I’ve seen our food supply since the food bank opened over 30 years ago.”

Read the complete story in the Nov. 20, 2014 paper issue of The Carillon.