As demand surges, food banks in Lloydminster can't grow quickly enough

Food security isn't just a big-city issue. In Lloydminster, a city of about 32,000 people that straddles the Alberta-Saskatchewan border, it's slim pickings in some fridges and pantries.

Food banks and social agencies in Lloydminster have seen a surge in demand since the COVID-19 pandemic. For some of the agencies, there isn't enough food to go around.

The Olive Tree, a community centre, provides an example of how need has ballooned over the last few years. 

Jana Thompson, its chief operations officer, said the operation was started to fill a service gap in Lloydminster.

"When someone does hit that hard time or just needs an extra boost, there wasn't really anything available for them," Thompson said.

Operating rent-free, The Olive Tree moved around different church spaces, offering a community meal each day.

After receiving a large donation, the agency purchased a building that houses a community centre, dining hall, commercial kitchen, food bank warehouse and thrift store. The Olive Tree now operates three buildings, including a stand-alone food bank warehouse that opened last spring.

Thompson said the agency has gone from distributing 200 food hampers each month to 900.

The client base is not just people from Lloydminster, either. Thompson said people come in from Marwayne, Vermilion, and Onion Lake Cree Nation, where The Olive Tree has set up a food bank hub.

She said the hub helps bring food directly to those who need it.

"Transportation is such an issue for Lloydminster because there isn't any type of transit system. And so for them, driving in 45 minutes just to get a food hamper, it just wasn't good."

Alongside the fast growth, inflation has brought growing pains.

"The cost of everything is so high. And so Christmas is crunch time for a lot of programming, but it's also [tight] dollar-wise," Thompson said.

At the Salvation Army in Lloydminster, things are tight as well. 

"This year has probably been our busiest year with having new people come to us," said Bond Jennings, community ministries officer with the Salvation Army.

This year the charity has had to decrease the frequency that food hampers are given out — from every four weeks to six.

"We were running low on food and in order to maintain what we were doing so that we could continue to give out food, we had to change some of the stuff so that we could spread out the food among more people, Jennings said.

Deborah Munroe, executive director at the Lloydminster Native Friendship Centre, said she only moved into the city in October, but can already tell the need is great.

She said the front foyer is full on food distribution days.

"I think the need is greater than what we can supply because there are folks who come in and — 'Oh, no food left.'"

Munroe said rent and groceries are sky-high for people right now, leaving some with tough financial choices. And she'd like to see the government step in with more long-term solutions and support for social agencies.

"I think there should be more services to provide for people who are living below the poverty line to meet their basic needs."

Come together this holiday season to spread kindness and help our neighbours in need with CBC's Make The Season Kind annual holiday drive. Visit cbc.ca/kind/yeg.