'I don't want giving to hurt': Edmonton Food Bank seeks donations of any size as demand soars
Volunteers scoured city doorsteps Saturday in search of non-perishable goods.
Bags of food donations were picked up around the city throughout the day for the Edmonton Food Bank's (EFB) annual food drive, which comes as the demand for services reaches record highs.
"The biggest challenge for us right now is keeping up with demand," said Tamisan Bencz-Knight, manager of strategic relationships and partnerships at the EFB.
She said the EFB has seen a huge increase in the number of clients visiting, with over 36,000 served in August compared to the average of 19,000 a month in 2020. That's more than the population of Leduc, she added.
"That is a huge amount monthly coming out of our organization, and that's why food donations, food drives like this [are] so instrumental," she said.
The drive has been running for 13 years, organized by the Church of Jesus Christ and Latter-day Saints. Over 4,000 volunteers from the church dropped off 250,000 bright yellow bags to single family homes this week, collecting them Saturday to fill up trucks bound for the EFB.
"Every year I hold my breath at this moment as I watch these trucks roll in and I keep counting and I hope that there's more and more and more," said Chantelle McMullin, a communication director with the church.
McMullin said last year's drive brought in almost 300,000 pounds of food. But, she added, inflation and rising costs of living are adding to financial strain, meaning more is needed for the growing number of people seeking services at the EFB.
"Their shelves are barer than they've ever been, so they really need the help of all Edmontonians. And so, I'm hopeful at this moment that we will step up as we always do as good people and fill those shelves," she said.
Bencz-Knight said the EFB supplies food to around 300 community organizations, as well as to individuals and families, and the organization spent over $1.4 million on food purchases in 2022 to keep up with demand.
With food coming in as fast as it goes out, Bencz-Knight said, the city-wide food drive is a key strategy to building up some stock.
"Unfortunately you can't just feed someone for one month. People need food and nourishment all the time, so we always have to make sure that the food stock keeps rolling in."
She added that anything people can spare makes a difference, even if it's just one dollar or one can of food. And there's always room for volunteers if a time donation is more accessible.
"We want people to give what makes them happy to give," Bencz-Knight said. "It's whatever fits for you, because I don't want giving to hurt.
"Giving should feel good."
If you did not get a bag and would like to make a donation, you can drop off non-perishable items at major grocery stores or fire stations around Edmonton. Monetary donations can be made through the Edmonton Food Bank website.
With files from CTV News Edmonton's Jessica Robb
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
LIVE AT 11 ET Trudeau to announce temporary GST relief on select items heading into holidays
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will announce a two-month GST relief on select items heading into holidays to address affordability issues, sources confirm to CTV News.
'Ding-dong-ditch' prank leads to kidnapping, assault charges for Que. couple
A Saint-Sauveur couple was back in court on Wednesday, accused of attacking a teenager over a prank.
Border agency detained dozens of 'forced labour' cargo shipments. Now it's being sued
Canada's border agency says it has detained about 50 shipments of cargo over suspicions they were products of forced labour under rules introduced in 2020 — but only one was eventually determined to be in breach of the ban.
2 boys drowned and a deception that gripped the nation: Why the Susan Smith case is still intensely felt 30 years later
Inside Susan Smith’s car pulled from the bottom of a South Carolina lake in 1994 were the bodies of her two young boys, still strapped in their car seats, along with her wedding dress and photo album. Here's how the case unfolded.
Genetic evidence backs up COVID-19 origin theory that pandemic started in seafood market
A group of researchers say they have more evidence to suggest the COVID-19 pandemic started in a Chinese seafood market where it spread from infected animals to humans. The evidence is laid out in a recent study published in Cell, a scientific journal, nearly five years after the first known COVID-19 outbreak.
International Criminal Court issues arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Hamas officials
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants on Thursday for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defence minister and Hamas officials, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity over their 13-month war in Gaza and the October 2023 attack on Israel respectively.
REVIEW 'Gladiator II' review: Come see a man fight a monkey; stay for Denzel's devious villain
CTV film critic Richard Crouse says the follow-up to Best Picture Oscar winner 'Gladiator' is long on spectacle, but short on soul.
Alabama to use nitrogen gas to execute man for 1994 slaying of hitchhiker
An Alabama prisoner convicted of the 1994 murder of a female hitchhiker is slated Thursday to become the third person executed by nitrogen gas.
This is how much money you need to make to buy a house in Canada's largest cities
The average salary needed to buy a home keeps inching down in cities across Canada, according to the latest data.