Unprecedented demand is being reported by food banks across the province.
The Okotoks Food Bank is a recipient of the Western Wheel Cares fundraising campaign again this year as food bank demand across Canada soars.
“For the first time ever, Alberta is actually leading the country in food bank usage,” said Pamela McLean, Okotoks Food Bank director.
Statistics from Food Banks Canada show one-in-five Albertans are using food banks, with about 157,000 going to one every month, McLean said.
“We're definitely seeing that here,” she said, adding there is a great need right now in the community.
The Okotoks Food Bank is currently serving 3,200 people in an average month, and sees 30 people per hour during its operating times.
“We’ve never seen anything like it, the food is flying off the shelves,” McLean said.
To help cope with the demand, the team at the food bank has a wish list of things that could be purchased with funds from this year's Wheel Cares campaign.
Significant things can be done with the donation, said McLean, and cold storage is one of the things the food bank is looking at.
Most food banks repurpose sea cans to fill that need, McLean said, and a cold storage would allow them to accept and store larger donations of root vegetables and other items.
The other top items on the food bank’s list are a larger freezer and a larger cooler for the help-yourself area, to make it easier to accommodate the high number of people it is serving.
“It's just too small right now,” McLean said of the current help-yourself freezer. “It's too small to hold the amount of food that we need to feed the current people.”
With food bank usage tripling this year, the food bank needs to adjust to meet the extra demand. An average month used to see 600 to 800 people being helped, not 3,200, McLean said.
“I'd like to get some tools in place that will help us service the forecast need into 2023,” McLean said.
The Okotoks Food Bank has received donations from Wheel Cares since the program began eleven years ago.
Wheel Cares provides a substantial donation to the food bank, McLean said. In past years, it has been able to upgrade technology and put money towards a delivery truck and a forklift with funds raised from the campaign.
Funds are used for anything that would help the food bank to serve more people, McLean said.
“I am so very grateful for this particular fundraiser,” she said.
Seven organizations, including the Food Bank, will benefit from the 2022 Western Wheel Cares campaign. Other recipients are Foothills Country Hospice, Inclusion Foothills, Foothills Advocacy in Motion, Pound Rescue, Rowan House Society and Sheep River Health Trust.
This year’s campaign runs from Nov. 1 to Dec. 31 and one hundred per cent of donations go to the featured charities.
In 2021, Western Wheel Cares raised a record $72,107, topping the previous record of $71,279.65 raised the year before.
Each week, the Wheel will feature one of the charities receiving money from the campaign.
To donate to Western Wheel Cares, mail cheques to Box 150, Okotoks, AB, T1S 2A2 or visit Western Wheel Cares - OkotoksToday.ca.
As well, you can drop by the Wheel office at 9 McRae St., from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (closed from noon to 1 p.m. for lunch) weekdays or call 587-325-6234.
