As the St. Albert Food Bank braces for a busier-than-usual holiday season, executive director Suzan Krescy said new funding announced by the province comes as welcome news.
On Nov. 23, Seniors, Community and Social Services Minister Jeremy Nixon and Affordability and Utilities Minister Matt Jones announced up to $20 million over two years in funding for food banks and civil society organizations.
“We are, of course, very happy to hear about the funding! We are always very busy during Christmas and this year we are expecting it to be even busier,” Krescy said in an email to The Gazette.
She said the St. Albert food bank is gearing up for around 300 Christmas hampers this year, which is, “above the 'regular' hampers that folks will be needing to get them through the month.”
Albertans have the highest rate of food insecurity in the country, according to a recent report from Food Banks Canada.
HungerCount 2022 shows Alberta saw a 34 per cent increase in total visits from 2021 to 2022. That number soars to 73 per cent when comparing food bank visits from 2019 to 2022.
“We all know food banks are vital throughout our province in meeting the great need that we see and bringing community together. Thousands of families, seniors, and vulnerable Albertans rely on our local food banks when they're in times of crisis to be able to put food on their table. No Albertans should ever need to wonder where their next meal is coming from,” Nixon said during the announcement.
According to its news release, the province will distribute $5 million in the coming weeks, while another $5 million will be distributed to food banks and civil society organizations in the 2023-24 fiscal year.
The rest of the $10 million will be distributed over two years in matching funds to Alberta food banks, charities, not-for-profits, and civil society organizations to raise community awareness and involvement for food banks and other civil service agencies.
“Over the past few months, Albertans have faced an affordability crisis that they haven't seen in decades. Inflation has impacted the cost of living across our entire country including utilities and groceries. During this time our government has worked hard to carefully monitor affordability,” Nixon said.
Krescy said she isn’t sure when the funding for the St. Albert food bank will be coming or how much it will receive, but has been in touch with Food Banks Alberta, the provincial food bank office.
“They are working with another provincial body to work out the funding criteria and process. At the moment details are very limited but we do know that funding will be available to every food bank,” Krescy said.
“We are predicting that the high numbers of folks needing our help will continue for quite a while yet,” she said. “We are very grateful for the outstanding support that the community has given our families through these tough times – we appreciate the support so very much.”
