Photo by Vince Fedoroff
LENDING A HAND – Canada World Youth volunteer Filipa Guinda, from Mozambique, helps out Wednesday afternoon at the Whitehorse Food Bank. At the moment, the bank is buying food. Stephen Dunbar-Edge
Food bank's year-round work rules out hampers
Just like the clients it serves, the Whitehorse Food Bank is doing all it can to provide for families throughout the year.
Just like the clients it serves, the Whitehorse Food Bank is doing all it can to provide for families throughout the year.
And that's why the food bank will not be providing separate Christmas hampers to its clients again this holiday season, executive director Stephen Dunbar-Edge said in an interview this morning.
Instead, the organization will add some extras where it can to the regular grocery items it provides its clients.
Early this week, it began handing out letters to clients explaining the situation. Last month, workers and volunteers at the food bank started letting clients know verbally what might be coming in December.
While cranberry sauce, stuffing and the like for the traditional Christmas family feasts will be added depending on availability, Dunbar-Edge said, families will also get a choice of additional meat based on their family size.
Singles and couples with no children are getting a choice of a frozen ham or chicken, with families of up to four being given a choice of a ham, two chickens or a small turkey and finally families with five or more people have a choice of two hams, two chickens or a large turkey.
This marks the second year the food bank has opted not to offer the Christmas hampers.
As Dunbar-Edge explained, when the food bank opened its doors in 2009, it had more money including a $30,000 grant from the Bob Couchman Foundation.
The board and executive director at the time opted to use that cash to provide more elaborate Christmas hampers for the 275 families using the food bank.
By the following Christmas, Dunbar-Edge was in the position as executive director and there was less money in the pot.
Clients had come to expect a Christmas hamper along with their usual monthly groceries, so Dunbar-Edge scaled back the hampers, but offered them that year.
Last year, in the interest of providing for families year-round, it was decided the regular groceries would be enhanced with some Christmas items, but the Christmas hampers would no longer be offered.
While there were some disappointed clients, Dunbar-Edge noted many know what it's like to have to provide all year-round for a family.
They understand that just like them, the food bank is doing its best to provide year-round for clients.
As he explained in the letter being handed to clients coming in for food: "From the time we opened, the demand for year-round emergency food by Yukon families has tripled.
"The mandate of the food bank is to provide emergency food year-round. This year, the amount of food we have had to purchase to meet this demand has exceeded the amount of cash donations, making the cash reserves at the food bank dangerously low.
"The board at the Food Bank Society of Whitehorse has had to conduct a serious review of what has been provided for one meal at Christmas vs. the reality of being a sustainable operation during the entire year.
"All cash donations received at Christmas will help support the purchase of the additional meal for our regular hampers and to maintain food security during 2013.”
The food bank is typically about three months away from closing at any given time.
As Dunbar-Edge said this morning, it's hard to justify buying cranberry sauce for one meal when there's not even pasta sauce to be handed out in the regular hampers.
Many shelves at the food bank now sit empty with Dunbar-Edge noting his plans to go shopping for supplies. There's no tuna, juice or vegetables, he noted.
This week, he saw more than 100 clients come in for pickup on Tuesday and Thursday when normally, there'd be around 70.
"I think that people are feeling the pressure of Christmas,” he said.
Many may have come in the first week of the month to get a sense of what they'll have in their cupboards for the Christmas season, he said.
He noted there are other programs in place to help families in need, such as the Share the Spirit campaign and the Salvation Army's toy drive.
While many people chose to donate to organizations like the food bank at Christmas time, Dunbar-Edge said those donations usually go to running the food bank in the first part of the following year.
The food bank welcomes any donations of food or cash, and anyone who buys food for the organization is also encouraged to bring in their till receipts, which the food bank can use for tax purposes.
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Comments (11)
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north_of_60 on Dec 17, 2012 at 7:33 am
More people would donate if they believed the abuse was being addressed.
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Jackie Ward on Dec 17, 2012 at 5:52 am
@Up North. Ummm, yes it should. If there are questions about how a charity is operating, or if people become suspicious, that in turn hurts the organization. People shouldn't give a dime to an entity that causes other people's suspicions. It also means the organization isn't doing enough digging to determine if they are giving services to the ones who actually need it. And my opinion is, if you drive up to the food bank in a new car, you don't deserve help from a food bank. Down size your car. Food is more important than someone's image.
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Up North on Dec 16, 2012 at 6:35 am
There will always be people who abuse the system, but that shouldn't stop one from supporting a charity. There are many people in need who do use it.
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Justin Guy on Dec 14, 2012 at 8:11 am
I did use the Food Bank when I got unemployed & without revenue. I didn't have to go to Social Services to get a voucher. I only had to fill a simple form. And each time I went back to pick up food I only had to show my ID to make sure I wasn't coming more than once a month.
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Lisa Lynn on Dec 14, 2012 at 3:13 am
I totally agree with north_of_60. I was dropping off donations and two fellows leaving with food jumped into a brand new truck and I saw them 5 minutes later at the liquor store. I'm not going hungry but my cupboards aren't overflowing either - it makes me reluctant to donate.
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north_of_60 on Dec 12, 2012 at 8:35 am
northerner stated on Dec 10, 2012
to north of 60….
in case u werent aware, ppl do need to see social services to get a voucher to go to the food bank.
That is an incorrect assumption, not substantiated by facts.
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Just sayin on Dec 11, 2012 at 8:59 am
It is rather off-putting that Dunbar-Edge always refers to: I, me, or my when talking about the food bank as if it were him doing everything singlehandedly when in reality there is a army of volunteers and donators behind the food bank.
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northerner on Dec 10, 2012 at 3:01 pm
to north of 60....
in case u werent aware, ppl do need to see social services to get a voucher to go to the food bank.
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north_of_60 on Dec 9, 2012 at 12:42 pm
I give what I can to the food bank every year, however as a senior my ability to give is limited. I can't help but wonder every time I drive by the food bank in my 15 year old car and I see nearly new vehicles parked out front idling. It certainly appears that some people use the food bank to make money available for other things like smokes, booze and lotto.
Anyone who uses the food bank should be required to first visit social services, just across the alley, to verify their true need, and to get a voucher for the food bank. This would certainly improve the food bank's credibility, and very likely increase donations especially from those who see it as a scammers paradise. Only the truly needy should be allowed to use the food bank.
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yukonertoo on Dec 9, 2012 at 2:55 am
So many families all across this country are in need of basic items such as food. R. Leef and those of his ilk obviously feel the banks and oil companies are in greater need of taxpayer largess. How very sad!
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June Jackson on Dec 7, 2012 at 10:23 am
I am sorry to see the shelves are empty..I think you'll see a LOT less money and fewer donations.
Landlords are jacking rents so fast, a charitable contribution is a luxury many can't afford, who were able to help out a little in the past.
A few more minimum wages families..nothing left over for them to give.
Heat bills are off the wall with this cold weather..How much is left over for anyone (except our politicians) for charity?
In March my rent is going up 600. bucks a year.. my pensions aren't. I might have to be at the food bank myself.
Our governments, on all levels, Federal, Territorial, fork out billions of dollars a year to other countries..while Canadians go hungry- homeless- without medical care..Shame on us.