Have you ever had to go without? Have you ever had to rely on someone else to help feed your family? Do you know what it feels like to be hungry?
There are people in southeastern Saskatchewan that are faced with these challenges daily. Luckily, we have an organization whose mandate is to help these people. But they can't do it alone.
The food bank needs your help! Every month, the Carlyle and District Food Bank, which is a registered charity that relies on community donations, is being required to purchase more and more food to help those in need.
Why, you ask? Well, it's quite simple. Furthermore, it's quite worrisome.
Food donations are down throughout the area and the food bank is now required to use between $1,000 and $2,000 of their reserve funds monthly to meet the needs of the region.
Every third Wednesday of each and every month, volunteers meet to fill between 25 and 40 hampers for individuals, couples and families throughout southeastern Saskatchewan. Not only that, but the food bank is coming up on their busiest season where between 60 and 80 Christmas hampers will be filled for the holiday season.
They need food donations now more than ever. As the population in the region increases so too, does the need for food hampers. The Food Bank, which is normally closed during the months of July and August, was open year round this year filling more than 25 hampers monthly during that time period. This year was especially hard due to the hardships faced by the agriculture sector and the oil industry.
Hampers are filled with a number of items that are hoped to help fill the cupboards of those in need including soups, canned vegetables, canned fruit, pastas, canned meat, pork and beans and Kraft Dinner to name a few. But that's not all. Milk, bread, eggs, potatoes, apples, carrots, and meat are staples that are also added to the hampers.
The Food Bank, which is located in Carlyle due to its central location for the entire region, has a number of donations bins set up for the donor's convenience. In addition, events such as Breakfast with Santa and food drives at local schools raise much needed food stuffs for the food bank.
"We haven't had any big donations since last year at Christmas," said Mavis James, one of the organization's committee members. "If we don't get any big donations this year, Christmas hampers are going to be a huge expense."
"We have bought a lot of food this year," said Treasurer Marg Krenz. "We get a few donations here and a few donations there, but when you fill this many hampers, it hardly seems to amount to anything."
But the Food Bank needs your help in more ways than one. As of right now, the community driven initiative lays in the hands of a few. The committee is looking for volunteers that would be interested in assisting with the packing of hampers every third Wednesday from 9 to 10:30 a.m., in addition to people interested in having a more permanent place with the organization by joining the committee. And with Christmas coming up, the committee is looking for assistance in packing the 60 to 80 hampers expected to be required.
It is more important than ever to help out your local food bank. Whether it is a $1 can of food or $20 worth of groceries, every little bit helps. Whether is means stopping by one Wednesday to help pack hampers or joining the committee to help with the continuity of the initiative, your efforts will not go unnoticed.
For more information and for how to get involved in a worthy cause, contact Mavis James at 455-2553.
