The Estevan Salvation Army is hosting a spring food drive for the fourth consecutive year in an effort to replenish the shelves at Estevan’s food bank, which the Salvation Army operates.
The Summer Daze Food Drive will run from June 1 to 18.
“We have been really busy since Christmas,” said Salvation Army Major Heather Harbin. “The winter months have kept us busy, and so we’re seeing our shelves depleted a bit.”
While concrete numbers weren’t available, Harbin noted the food bank has experienced a 50 per cent increase in the number of families that they have seen, a 50 per cent increase in the number of individuals, and a 92 per cent increase in the number of children who have benefitted from the food bank’s services.
“We have seen about a $14,000 increase in the value of the food provided, or about 55 per cent,” said Harbin.
Numerous families have accessed the food bank’s services for the first time.
The support they received at Christmas was terrific, and their shelves were full at the start of this year. But it doesn’t take long for their stocks to dwindle with their current client load.
Shelves are about 50 per cent capacity.
“It doesn’t take long for that to change,” said Harbin.
The food bank is short on such foods as Lipton Sidekicks, Mr. Noodle, Kraft Dinner, Hamburger Helper, canned products such as beans, pasta, tomatoes, meat and tuna, and other products such as stews, rice, pancake mix, puddings and Jell-O.
Cash donations will also be accepted during the food drive, since the money will be used to purchase fresh products, such as produce, dairy and meats.
The food drive has become an important campaign for the Salvation Army, Harbin said, because people are out of town for summer holidays, so they can’t donate to the food bank. But the demand on the food bank remains the same during the summer months.
“The Summer Daze food drive will just be a reminder that people are still coming to the food bank, and help is still needed,” said Harbin.
Harbin noted that when she and her husband, Wilf, were in Ontario, there would be a food drive each year at Thanksgiving that was very well received. But they have never been part of a pre-summer food drive.
The summer food drive was started locally in 2013. It expanded to Weyburn last year, since Estevan and Weyburn share Salvation Army officers. Weyburn will have their own food drive, named Fill the Plate, in June.
The Estevan Salvation Army doesn’t have a goal for how much they want to collect during the Summer Daze Food Drive, but they want to have their shelves stocked as much as possible entering the summer months.
