Food bank experiences dramatic rise in demand
As Alberta’s economy continues to falter, demand at the Calgary Food Bank is skyrocketing towards levels that are “worse than Christmas.”
The number of clients who have used the service in one way or another is at a staggering 157,000 in the span from September 2015 to July 2016, up from 130,361 just a year earlier. And it gets worse. The number of hampers picked up is over 60,500 — nearly 10,000 more than a year previous. And the most telling statistic of all: firsttime users are up over 60,000.
D.D. Coutts, spokeswoman for the Food Bank, understands the daily grind people are going through.
“People are feeling hopeless, and that’s hard to battle,” she said. “Hunger is one thing, but hopelessness is something else.”
Reflecting on the demand for help from the food bank, she added: “It’s worse than Christmas.”
The Calgary Food Bank saw this influx coming two months ago, but administrators are a little taken aback with how deep the impact is.
Even with a provincial government trying to drum up more income for Albertans by increasing the minimum wage, Coutts said the challenges are of a bigger scope.
“While $15 minimum wage is a good idea, it’s not going to help this problem,” Coutts adds.
With news on the job front getting worse seemingly on a monthly basis, Coutts said she knows Calgarians who aren’t feeling the pinch will come up big.
“We can’t believe the generosity of neighbours, who have either been there before, and have come out the other side. People who can step up, do, it’s an amazing city for that. “
Statistics showing the increase in demand at the Food Bank came as new unemployment figures were released. On Friday, Statistics Canada revealed that Alberta’s unemployment rate jumped sharply in July — to its highest level in nearly 22 years — as more people began looking for work in the province.
The federal agency said employment in the province remained “essentially unchanged” from June, but a growing workforce saw the unemployment rate rise 0.7 points to 8.6 per cent. That’s the highest rate in the province since September 1994.
From July 2015, employment in the province was down 49,000, as full-time employment losses of 104,000 (5.4 per cent) were offset by an increase in part-time work. The unemployment rate in July 2015 was 6.2 per cent.
At the local level, Calgary’s unemployment rate was 8.6 per cent, up 0.3 points from June, and the highest among Canadian cities.
Diane Jones-Konihowski, director of fund development and communications for the Calgary Distress Centre, said she doesn’t think things are “going to turn around any time soon, Calgary is really being hit hard.”
However, despite the bleak outlook, Jones-Konihowski remains upbeat.
“What I keep saying to myself is ‘ We have the distress centre, this 24-hour line to help people out.’ ”
Advertising the service isn’t difficult, but keeping the funds freely flowing into the free-for-all service is becoming an issue.
“It’s going to be more challenging into 2017, if other social agencies are finding things difficult — with companies supporting them with less money — it could be very difficult.”
She added, “More than ever social services are needed, and unfortunately now the money is drying up.”