With Thanksgiving near, food bank organizers say there's 'no end in sight' for rising demand

With Thanksgiving a week away, one food bank organizer is taking stock of what's needed to support clients around this feast-centred holiday.

Kaitlin Clarke, the communications coordinator for Saint Vincent de Paul Carbonear Food Bank, said some people will inevitably go without a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, but her group will do everything they can to ensure people have something to eat.

"We do often see more of a demand in the week leading up to Thanksgiving. People are looking for those items and we try to accommodate where we can," Clarke told CBC News. "For a lot of these people, Thanksgiving dinner might not even be an option."

She said it's likely a difficult time for people who are food insecure because the holiday largely centres around food.

"If you don't have, like, the turkey and the stuffing or any kind of hearty-home cooked meal — it's not going to feel the way that it should for everybody."

Clarke added they might already be isolated and not as connected with friends or family, which can make this time of year even worse.

Another complicating factor — food bank donations tend to decline in the summer and early fall, Clarke said.

At the same time, she said they are seeing a wide range of people accessing the food bank. Seniors are especially challenged because they are living on fixed incomes at a time they are seeing an increased cost of heating their homes in the colder months, Clarke said.

"We've also been seeing more families that are, like, later 20s into their middle-age area."

She attributed this to the rising cost of living.

"For them, it's a choice between heat and electricity or food, or if their child needs a new winter coat and boots — it's that or purchasing food."

Financial pressures crushing families, says food sharing group

Community Food Sharing Association manager Tina Bishop said they're seeing more clients at food banks in need of assistance.

"We're hearing from food banks right across the province that the demand is up," she said. "It seems to be there's no end in sight."

Bishop said financial pressure increases as people head into the holiday season, compounded by the fact that families just spent money sending kids back to school.

"It's this time of year, the families are seeing extra pressure to be able to provide for their families during these holidays."

Her organization, which supplies 60 food banks across N.L., wants to ensure food banks are well stocked at this time of year but she said they aren't in the position to provide a traditional Thanksgiving dinner with turkey. She said turkeys can be part of Christmas hampers though.

"The need for donations for Christmas is greater than it's ever been," she said.

Bishop said when she goes into a grocery store, she notices how things have gotten more expensive and that's negatively impacting people on fixed incomes.

"Times are really tough right now for a lot of people," said Bishop, urging people to donate.

Time to stock up is now

Right now, Clarke said the food bank needs to stock up on staple items like canned soup and other easy-to-prepare meals like pasta sauces and dried pasta, as well as kid-friendly foods like Kraft Dinner and snacks.

Though Christmas is several months away, work is already underway at her food bank in preparation for the Christmas hampers it distributes.

"A lot of people think about their local food bank at around Christmas time, but really this is the time of the year where we start trying to stock up for that and prepare for it."

Clarke recalled her first Christmas working at the food bank when she encountered an individual who had worked their whole life, raised a family but in old age had fallen on hard times.

One Christmas for the first time they didn't have a turkey in their more than 25 years of marriage, she said.

"It's been four years since I've heard that story but it still brings tears to my eyes," Clarke said. "I think everybody should be able to enjoy some holiday magic."

Through her job at the food bank, Clarke said she's able to talk to those in need and hear their stories.

"It's a lot of stories that will absolutely break your heart. But we're also very fortunate that we've formed a lot of bonds with these people," she said.

In some cases she even knows the names of clients' pets, adding sometimes people don't reach out to the food bank for help until they've run out of pet food.

She said her job is more than helping people access food, but also the support she can provide.

"It's offering a listening ear to somebody who has nobody. It's checking in with people who've had health problems and they might not have anyone to turn to."

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