The Wheatland County food bank has been helping people since 1990 and puts together over 800 hampers a year for people in need in the Wheatland area. Recently, demand has been soaring to unprecedented levels in their 30+ year history since inflation has made the price of groceries skyrocket.
Executive Director of the Wheatland County Food Bank Lynette Aschenbrenner says the numbers of people in need were already going up and they are continuing to climb.
“We are hearing it from our clients all the time that they cannot believe what the prices are in grocery stores.”
The food banks in Calgary are also feeling the impact on the number of people in need and the number of donations that they receive as prices for food products climb. Aschenbrenner says they typically pick up donations from the Calgary food bank once per week but because they are running out, the Wheatland County food bank can no longer pick up there.
“We are still doing fine; we have good inventory, and we have some good food drives coming up. But if people can afford to get the little bags at the grocery stores that would really help us for sure.”
Aschenbrenner also says despite the pressure the food banks are under right now, they have a very good group of volunteers.
“We have been managing quite well but of course those prices really affect us because we have to buy the food for our hampers as well. We buy fresh fruit, we buy milk, we buy meat, so it has hit us quite hard as well.”
Things like shampoo, conditioner, toilet paper and personal care items are things that Aschenbrenner says that people really are in need of, and most people don’t think to donate them.
“All those things are essential, and they are getting really expensive. Diapers are another thing that can go a long way. We buy the fresh fruit, so you know donating money would be helpful so that we can buy fresh items for our hamper every week.”
The food bank also does a bread and extras program that does not require an application, and anyone can have access to that. It runs on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings.
“From 9:00 – 10:30 people can come to the food bank, and we will have produce and yogurt and just different things that are sent to us by the grocery stores through our food reclamation program and we put that back into our community.”
Aschenbrenner expresses anyone in need shouldn't hesitate to reach out, as the food bank will always be there to help however they can.
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