Many people experiencing financial struggles for the first time are turning to the Estevan Salvation Army’s food bank, which is experiencing struggles of its own.
Brian Bobolo, Salvation Army Lieutenant, said the expected downturn at the food bank, which usually occurs in late spring, has arrived much sooner and has resulted in incomplete food hampers being given out.
“People are really struggling. People who have been laid off for the first time in their lives … it’s a totally new experience for them,” Bobolo said. “The local economy has been so good for so long, but now with the downturn in oil, it’s created a real demand for the food bank.”
The number of distributed hampers has gone up 60 per cent since Christmas, Bobolo said, adding the number of people using the food bank right now compared to this point in 2014, has gone up 80 per cent.
Aside from soup and packaged spaghetti, the food bank needs a number of items that span across the Canadian Food Guide.
Frozen fruits, granola bars, cereal, Kraft dinner and peanut butter are some of the food items that are being left out of the distributed food hampers right now.
Salvation Army Lieutenant June Bobolo said canned vegetables would also be a huge help. She also acknowledged the increase in people using the food bank since Christmas.
“There’s a real demand right now, anything would be helpful,” she said.
The conversations at the food bank between Bobolo and their new patrons have been frequent, often revolving around what it takes to make ends meet and discussing the possibilities that come with leaving Estevan. The Salvation Army Lieutenant said a lot of people are extremely concerned with their financial situation.
“Most of those conversations surround stress management and their children,” he said, while noting the emotional and spiritual assistance the Salvation Army Church provides to anyone who requires help.
With the increasing levels of stress in the community when it comes to families’ financial stability, Bobolo said there’s a real threat of caregiver fatigue among their staff. However, with the help of community church and the knowledge that their work is directly impacting people’s lives in a positive way, it allows them to push forward and continue their work.
“There’s that joy that comes with serving the community,” Bobolo said. “It’s amazing how often we’ll see empty or near-empty shelves … we still think about how we’re going to get through this. There’s a great community spirit here and people are very aware of the work we do.”
The Warm Welcome shelter that accumulated over 4,000 hours of community volunteer service this year has closed its doors for the winter.
Bobolo said the shelter was open for 136 nights since November 2014. This is an eight per cent increase over last year’s numbers. Attendance has gone up 22 per cent as well, resulting from the 576 stays at the shelter.
The majority of people using the shelter this year have been locals, Bobolo said. He added he hopes to increase the number of nights the shelter is open next year.
“In the midst of other opportunities to help out, it’s a very tangible form of volunteer work,” Bobolo said, while emphasizing the importance of connecting more with youth and promoting the spirit of volunteerism.
Despite the current shortage of food at the food bank, Bobolo stressed anyone who needs help to come to them immediately.
“There’s plenty of food for everyone,” he said. “We don’t want people to defer to someone else.”
