An increasingly diverse clientele is putting an ever-growing demand on the services of the Okotoks Food Bank.
Bente Yanota, executive director of the local non-profit, one of seven Foothills charities being supported by Western Wheel Cares, said she’s not only seeing more people at the food bank these days, but they’re coming from all sectors of society.
Yanota said she’s seeing a greater number of people who are employed, those who own their own homes and seniors, but what they all have in common is that they’re struggling to make ends meet.
She said monthly hampers are up 36 per cent from last year, while the Help Yourself Shelves program has seen a 13 per cent increase. Both of those figures build on already inflated numbers as the food bank has seen a doubling in demand from just five years ago.
“Like Food Banks Canada says, one in five people that visits a food bank is employed, so, yes, I'm seeing more people with jobs,” said Yanota. "They're embarrassed because they're like, I have a job, but I just can't make everything come together at the end of the month. That’s the biggest thing I hear.
“It's unfortunate because they're trying but with the price of food and rent, inflation is hitting them on both sides and it just kind of pushes people to the edge on what they can afford each month.”
She said she’s seeing more people that own their own home, a figure that's slowly rising and now sits at 17 per cent of Okotoks Food Bank users.
“And then I see my seniors, which is the most heartbreaking. They thought they were prepared for retirement, but then they're struggling as well,” Yanota said.
She shared a couple of recent testimonials to highlight the situations clients can find themselves in and how the food bank is there to help.
“It has been a horrible, hard time recently and I was honestly out of options. This is my first experience with a food bank, I was embarrassed and worried about calling and even more anxious about my hamper pickup appointment,” one client wrote. "I know times will get better and I hopefully won't need to use the food bank more than once or twice in the coming months, but your help means the world to me and my family.”
Another client wrote: “Many food bank visitors are not of Canadian descent so as an immigrant myself, I can relate to the fact that we cannot just knock on our family’s door to borrow some money to get us through the rest of the month.”
This year’s Western Wheel Cares campaign runs until Dec. 31. In 2023, the campaign raised a record $100,002, pushing its 12-year total to $669,061.
Each week, the Wheel will feature one of the seven organizations — Foothills Advocacy in Motion Society, Foothills Country Hospice, Inclusion Foothills, Okotoks Food Bank, Pound Rescue, Rowan House Society and Sheep River Health Trust — supported by the initiative.
To donate to Western Wheel Cares, mail cheques to Box 150, Okotoks, AB, T1S 2A2 or visit westernwheel.ca/western-wheel-cares for a Paypal donation link. As well, you can drop by the Wheel office at 9 McRae St. from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays (closed from noon to 1 p.m. for lunch) or call 403-938-6397.
