Image courtesy of Kamloops Food Bank

By Dylana Kneeshaw

SATURDAY SPRING FOOD DRIVE

Spring Rotary Food Drive preparations underway as Kamloops Food Bank visits spike

Apr 24, 2024 | 3:00 PM

KAMLOOPS — According to recent data, the Kamloops Food Bank saw an 85 per cent increase in the number of people needing its services throughout 2023, with more than 13,000 clients coming through its doors. The Spring Rotary Food Drive this weekend is gearing up to help the Food Bank keep its shelves stocked.

Food Bank Executive Director Bernadette Siracky says the goal is to collect around 80,000 lbs of non-perishable items. This Saturday morning (Apr. 27), teams of Rotary volunteers will be combing through the city’s neighbourhoods to pick up donation bags.

“They (Rotarians) show up, and have shown up for the past 16 years, doing this food drive across the city,” said Siracky. “The need remains, but it is growing. It truly is this year. We had an 85 per cent increase in need over last year. People are accessing us that have never come to a food bank in their lives.”

As more people access its services, the food bank needs to have enough supplies to handle the demand, making donations through food items and monetary contributions even more crucial. The rising cost of living and inflation is felt on an individual level, but Siracky says as an organization, the food bank’s costs have also gone up, specifically around the purchase of food items.

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“Emergency food is one piece of the food security spectrum,” she explains. “When folks are living at or below the poverty line, which many people are finding themselves for the first time ever, they’re not really thinking about growing gardens at that point. You’re just really worried about your immediate need — and that’s really what we’re facing here at the Kamloops Food Bank, is immediate need.”

Paper bags have been distributed throughout this week, but any bag will be accepted. Donations need to be placed outside by 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, April 27.