It was a somewhat surprising story which hit the front page of this newspaper last week.
The local Salvation Army had turned to media to make the public aware of what Chaplain James Pedwell termed a "severe shortage of food" at the organization's food bank in the city.
"I'm putting a challenge out to people because the food bank is in dire need," said Pedwell in the story.
The surprising aspect of the story is that we are at a point where there are jobs for most anyone wanting to work.
To begin with there is a feeling the Saskatchewan economy in general, and the Yorkton area economy in particular are humming along quite nicely.
You can drive around our city and see construction taking place all over the community. The West Broadway Corner, new Honda and Ford dealerships, and a number of major housing developments should be indicative of a booming economy.
However, the boom appears to be leaving some in our city behind.
That was certainly Pedwell's view in the Aug. 31, story.
A significant increase in the city's "working poor" due to a growing population and climbing rent has sharply driven up demand for the food bank's services this summer, Pedwell explained. But donations are down.
"In the summertime, people take a vacation from a lot of things - their work as well as their charities. People don't think of the food bank until they think "Christmas hampers" But the need is still there."
It appears the 'working poor' which Pedwell mentioned will be a key issue as we head toward a provincial election in November.
Personal income, and the distribution of wealth in the province has gained momentum as an issue, along with housing with fears regarding accessibility to affordable housing, said the New Democrat leader Dwain Lingenfelter during a visit to the city last week.
People in Saskatchewan are falling behind is in terms of personal incomes. Statistics Canada recently released showing "average in Saskatchewan going up only one per cent (over the previous year)," said Lingenfelter (see related story this issue). " More and more families are coming to me and saying they can't make ends meet
"There's a sense we need to do a better job of wealth distribution."
It is hard to envision how we have the extremes at play, construction sites showing the vibrancy of our economy, and yet Chaplain Pedwell having to go to the media to encourage donations to fill empty food shelves in the face of a growing need in our city.
That disparity should not occur, especially in a province long known for its deep roots based in social fairness. It is an issue not just for the upcoming election, but for businesses and individuals to work to correct so that we all share in the strong economy and the need for food banks becomes something for the history books.
