MELFORT — Food banks in the East Central region of the province have begun preparing for what they believe will be an increase of usage.
According to Ellen Zuck, secretary of the Melfort Food Bank, the organization is already seeing an increase of about 10 per cent in families using them.
“The longer people are out of work, the more need there will be,” Zuck said.
“We’ve been getting some donations in so that we will be able to get enough stock to keep up with what we’re doing.”
The Melfort Food Bank held a successful collection on April 8, with the City of Melfort encouraging donations.
“The donations are up,” Zuck said. “They were up very good, because they were really down. We weren’t getting anything when this all first broke, and then with the advertising that we have put out that we’re still in operation and what we need... Quite a bit better.”
To donate, food items or cash donations can be left at the Melfort Food Bank, at 203 Broadway Avenue North, every Wednesday from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Entrance can be granted through the back door.
The food bank is open for families to collect a hamper once every two weeks. The increase of use was observed on April 9.
To utilize the food bank, community members are instructed to leave a message on the food bank’s voicemail at 306-752-4448. The voicemail is checked twice a day.
Cpt. Rick Robins, with the Salvation Army in Melfort and Tisdale, has said that usage of the Salvation Army food banks have been “steady, but not an up-rise quite yet.”
He credits this to some families still having personal emergency savings.
“Our areas haven’t really been hit by COVID-19 yet, and it’s really going to take hold here in the next little bit,” Robins said.
“In the smaller population areas, the higher amount usually comes at a later time and that’s just a normal trend.”
He said that his belief of an increased usage of the food bank is based on the lack of current employment amid the pandemic.
“They don’t have the income that they had before and they’re not able to get out as much as they were before.”
The Melfort Salvation Army has seen an increase in individual meals, which can be picked up for delivery.
“We’ve had a higher need of that, but not specifically food hampers and those type of areas.”
Robins said the individual meal program is fully inclusive, and no questions asked.
“We’ll help anybody with the meals, there’s no, ‘you make too much money, you can’t have a meal,’” Robins said.
Salvation Army monetary donations for Tisdale or Melfort can be done through mail, by mailing to PO Box 549, Melfort, SOE 1T0. Donations for Nipawin, Melfort and Tisdale Salvation Army can be done by donating online at salvationarmy.ca/donate, and selecting Saskatchewan then selecting which geographical area.
Food donations can be dropped off at the Nipawin, Melfort and Tisdale Salvation Army locations.
The Melfort location’s church, where donations can be dropped off, is open Monday to Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The Tisdale location is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays. Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays the location is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The Nipawin location is open from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday.
For those looking for food, they can contact the Melfort Salvation Army at 306-752-3525. For Tisdale the number is 306-873-4643. For Nipawin the number is 306-862-5335.
