It’s been one other 12 months of unprecedented demand for Edmonton’s Food Bank — an all-too-common state of affairs lately that reveals no signal of fixing.
“Relying when you return a pair years or 5 years — you’re seeing enormous will increase in folks needing our companies,” mentioned Marjorie Bencz, government director of Edmonton’s Meals Financial institution.
The group is nearing the top of its Festive Marketing campaign and sitting at about 62 per cent of meals donations and 85 per cent of financial donations.
It’s these group contributions that set the tone for companies in 2026.
“All people is going through challenges with family budgets. Having mentioned that, I’m discovering individuals are nonetheless very variety and beneficiant to us,” Bencz mentioned.
The meals financial institution helps greater than 43,000 folks a months and donations usually are not conserving tempo.
“It has been a difficult 12 months for us to get the meals into the warehouse. A few of our main occasions, for instance, Sweet Cane Lane — it’s been a bit slower so we’re not seeing the contributions we usually would,” Bencz defined.
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That’s being felt throughout the nation. Financial pressures like value of dwelling and excessive inflation imply many individuals are prioritizing their very own necessities over giving.
“Meals banks are tremendously challenged by the truth that there’s seriousness round meals insecurity,” mentioned Sylvain Charlebois, director of the Agri-food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie College.
“Proper now it’s at 25 per cent, so 1 in 4 Canadians is meals insecure proper now.”
“Individualized philanthropy is extraordinarily troublesome today, as a result of lots of people who used to donate to the meals financial institution are meals financial institution customers themselves now – we’ve seen a few of these tales.”
The most recent Meals Value Report printed earlier this month is warning Canadians to brace for greater meals prices subsequent 12 months.
“We’re forecasting meals costs to rise by as a lot as six per cent in 2026. For a household of 4, they’re taking a look at a rise of $994 for your entire 12 months,” Charlebois defined – who led the annual report.
For those who can provide again to the meals financial institution, take into account this:
“You want more cash to purchase the identical quantity and positively for folks enthusiastic about giving to the meals banks, cash is the perfect factor as a result of meals banks have the flexibility to stretch a greenback far more than we will,” Charlebois mentioned.
To donate to Edmonton’s Food Bank, visit their website.
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