Saskatchewan food banks launch province-wide crisis response fund

Saskatchewan’s 32 food banks say they are expecting to see unprecedented demand for their services due to the COVID-19 crisis.

They say because of that, they are in desperate need of financial support.

On Thursday, they launched a $6-million campaign to help serve their communities in the coming months.

Food Banks of Saskatchewan officials say with more people being laid off from their jobs because of the pandemic, the need for help from the food bank will continue to grow.

In a release, Laurie O’Connor with the Saskatoon Food Bank summarized the situation as “a crisis unlike any we have ever experienced.

“As we witnessed in the recession in 2008, food banks were hard-pressed to meet demand,” she said. “We anticipate that the economic impact of COVID-19 will see thousands of people visiting us who never imagined they would be forced to rely on a food bank to survive.”

John Bailey with the Regina Food Bank added: “Economic pressures will lead to a surge in demand on our food bank unlike anything our community has experienced before. Hundreds of thousands of meals worth of food will be delivered to people, many of whom will never have considered that they would need to rely on a food bank. We will have to change the way we operate to meet the needs of our community, and we need the support of our community to make it happen.”

The food banks say tens of thousands of people will be out of work due to this crisis. At the same time, food donations are decreasing as people make fewer trips to supermarkets and are more focused on securing food supplies for their own families. Financial donations from the community will make an immediate difference.

A $100 donation will feed two families for a week, and a $400 donation will put food on the plates of eight families.

To donate, you are asked to visit www.skfoodbanks.ca.

On Tuesday, Rawlco Radio held a Day of Caring, which raised more than $1.6 million for the food banks in Saskatoon and Regina.