families

The manager of the Dryden Food Bank says more people are coming their doors than in 2024.

Al Huckabay says around two per cent more people are using the local food bank on a monthly basis than last year.

He says newcomers who have expired work visas and are out of work make up the most noticable jump in clients, followed by families.

“Because of the cost of food,” says Al Huckabay. “They’re just finding it hard to make ends meet, even though some of them are still working.”

He adds the rising cost of housing and heating is also driving many new clients to use the Dryden Food Bank.

Huckabay says the rising cost of food, in particular, isn’t just contributing to more people needing the food bank’s services.

“We rely on donations,” says Huckabay, adding that includes government and public grants. “Sometimes our grants are drying up or getting smaller and yet the price of food continues to go up so we’re not able to utilize the bang for the buck to try and purchase food (so) we’re able to purchase less food but using more money.”

He says that is forcing Dryden Food Bank to limit handouts as they stretch the food on their shelves as far as possible.

Earlier this week, Food Banks Canada announced that monthly visits to food banks were up 5 per cent nationally over 2024.

In a study, the agency found food banks in Canada saw nearly 2.2 million visits in a single month.

That is double the monthly usage recorded just six years ago.