Turkeys are a staple item the Salvation Army Food Bank has always managed to deliver to people who need help putting food on the table at Christmas time.
Until this year, they’ve been relatively cheap to buy, they make good leftovers and you can get several meals off one bird.
But bird flu is creating shortages and poultry farms are unable to meet public demand, so Roy Law is resigned to the fact there won’t be turkeys to distribute in food hampers for the foreseeable future.
“Not this year, but forever, turkey was a cheap meat and you could get tons of meals out of it,” said Law, community ministries director for the Prince George Salvation Army.
“It was cheap for us to buy 500 turkeys, compared to 500 roasts. Now we can’t do that and we’re stuck wondering what we can do for meat.”
Law says if people want to donate meat items they can do so by purchasing gift certificates for butcher shops or supermarkets for distribution through the food bank.
The client list for the food bank in Prince George has grown to about 3,000, up from about 2,400 a year ago. The list of clients in Prince George has never been higher.
“We have a 20 per cent increase in need and our incoming donations at this time of year compared to other times, we’re probably down maybe 15 per cent,” said Law.
“Those who were close to the fence before, now got put over. People who were making it and getting by with their bills, as soon as gas and food and those things went up, now it’s not quite enough. Those are the ones that are working and trying to make it.”
Law says now that it’s December, people are starting to think more about Christmas and getting into the spirit of giving, and he’s confident donations to the food bank will continue to gather momentum.
“We’re just getting started,” Law said. “It changes in the mind as soon as December hits.
“We could use some help, but we also know that Prince George comes through for us.”
The Salvation Army food bank in Prince George also helps other organizations in the city and provides food for homeless shelters, women’s housing residences, school programs and the St. Vincent de Paul Society drop-in centre. A staff of 10 employees, backed by an average eight volunteers per day, get the food to where it is needed.
The Salvation Army raises some of the money it needs to operate by selling items donated to its thrift store at the Curt Garland Community Support Centre at 3500 18th Ave.
The Salvation Army food bank program started in the early 1980s as a short-term, emergency response to poverty and it now operates 320 food banks across Canada.
The increased dependency of donated goods locally reflects the findings of the Food Banks Canada HungerCount 2022 report, released in late October, which found that an unprecedented 1.5 million Canadians accessed food banks in March.
That’s up 15 per cent from the same period the previous year and an increase of 35 per cent from 2019. One third (500,000) of the people served by food banks are children. Food costs, low social assistance rates and high rent were the top three reasons why people accessed a food bank this year.
The rate of inflation actually dropped to 6.9 per cent in September and October but food costs and the cost of rental housing remained at historically high levels. The report also found that 14.1 per cent of food bank clients are working and get most of their income from their jobs, compared to 12.5 per cent in 2021.
The rate of seniors depending on food banks jumped to 8.9 per cent (from 6.8 per cent in 2021) and student visits have increased from 4.7 per cent in 2021 to 7.1 per cent this year.
Volunteers have been ringing their bells at the Sally Ann kettles around the city for a couple of weeks now and every day there’s at least eight kettles getting stuffed with donations. It’s the biggest and only fundraiser the Salvation Army has each year and donor generosity is usually enough to cover the local charity’s operating costs for half the following year.
“We could use some more, we have eight (kettles) out there, which is less than we normally have,” said Law. “It has been decreased over the last three years because of COVID and this year we haven’t been able to come back. We just don’t have the volunteers.”
Volunteers can get involved by calling 250-564-4000 or go to the website for more information.
