Food bank ready to help during crisis

Number of users expected to rise as people feel economic effects of pandemic

A spokesman for the Yarmouth Food Bank says they expect to get busier as more people feel the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

“We anticipate, with more people getting laid off, that we’re probably going to have more” people using the food bank, said Rev. A.D. (Bill) Newell.

The food bank is open each Tuesday and will continue to operate as long as it’s permitted to do so, said Newell, noting it’s hard to say what will happen next with the pandemic and the province’s response to it.

“We certainly hope to be there to help people through the storm,” he said, “but we’re just like everybody else, subject to the response of the government, the department of health, the chief health officer.”

On March 17, the food bank served 97, bringing its total to date for March to 300 or so. Normally, the total for the whole month would be about 340 to 350 at the most, Newell said.

With the pandemic in mind, the food bank adjusted things when serving people.

“We changed our practices a little bit as far as how people came in and what not (in order) to protect our staff as well as (food bank users), trying to keep social distance,” Newell said.

Asked about the food bank’s supply, he said they seem to be in pretty good shape. He acknowledges there won’t be any more community food drives for a while and he isn’t sure how big an impact this could have.

“It’s hard to predict,” he said. “Our biggest number of food drives is in the fall before Christmas. We get some in the spring ... We had a big one a couple of weeks ago, thankfully, from Ste-Annedu-Ruisseau and that will be a help.”

The food bank also has some financial resources, he said, thanks to people who donate money, which helps them during those times when food drives aren’t happening or aren’t as frequent.

Regarding efforts by the province to limit the number of large gatherings of people, Newell said this shouldn’t be an issue at the food bank, even on a busy day.

As of last week, the province said there should be no events with more than 50 people. Whether that might change — or whether other

“We’re just like everybody else, subject to the response of the government, the department of health, the chief health officer.”

Rev. A.D. (Bill) Newell

directives might come from the province in response to the pandemic — Rev. Newell said all they could do was wait and follow the developments.

“As you know, things are changing day to day,” he said.

“You can’t make predictions.”

The province, meanwhile, announced on March 19 that it was providing $1 million to help Feed Nova Scotia purchase food and hire more staff.