Food bank use up in Charlottetown BY LAURA YORKE The Guardian
Despite the findings of a recent survey, the use of a Charlottetown food bank has increased.
Prince Edward Island was the only province to show a decrease in the use of food banks according to the findings of Hunger Count 2009, a project that takes a snapshot of the use of food banks across the country every year in March.
But Mike MacDonald, manager of the Upper Room in Charlottetown, said he has seen an increase in the use by about six per cent since June.
The use was down in the spring, as it always is, but it has since gone up, he said.
“March was a slow month for us, which is great, but unfortunately it has caught up.”
The main factors for the increase are people returning home after losing their jobs out West and those who are unemployed but have had their hours cut, he said.
“Those are the two big things,” he said.
Dianne Swinemar, executive director of Feed Nova Scotia, agrees. Nova Scotia came second in increase of food bank usage. Alberta had the greatest increase.
“It was very evident when things started to happen in Alberta they were making their way back to Nova Scotia,” she said.
“They came back without jobs and left homes there… and are going to family and food banks for support.”
In June the use of the Upper Room increased by six per cent and has climbed steadily to 13 per cent more than 2008, said MacDonald.
Fortunately, there is food available to those who need it.
A food drive was held in Stratford last Sunday. In total, nine and a half pallets were received which equals 14,000 pounds of food.
The food will supply the Upper Room for about three to four weeks and feed an average of 500 families, said MacDonald.
“Without drives like this, to be quite honest we wouldn’t be able to operate.”
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really tho from pei writes: Can someone tell me the last time this headline read use of foodbank down ...Thanks Robbie Ghiz for all you do for this province!
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bannie ============== from chtown, pei writes: Maybe if this prov govt did more for the
poorer people and those who either eat
or heat their homes decision,govt muzzles the opposition,pushes through
bills with out publics seeing them,snubs their noses at the less fortunate,the rural
areas,only look after their friends and buddies,this kind of business is very close to c-------m if in fact it is.
There was enough of that in earlier years
How do they expect to get re elected on
only their buddies and those whose votes they buy.
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B B from Charlottetown, PEI writes: It won't be long and I'll be there too. I'm a working man and I love my job but I work for a cheap business man. Been working 6 years and I've never seen a raise since I started. With the budget of six years ago it's dwindling fast. I've started robbing Peter to pay Paul. And now I notice it's getting worse. Pretty soon the grocery bill will be beyond what I can afford. If businesses would at least provide a Cost of Living adjustment I could probably survive it. But no raise and none to be seen, it doesn't look good. Working on PEI for cheap business owners backed up by corrupt uncaring government is the real
problem. It will really finally come crashing down when they introduce the HST. We'll certainly need a bigger Food Bank. Civic Center will do for starters. And they wonder why folks leave for Alberta. DAH!!
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to really tho from pei writes: can you tell me the last time we went through this type of recession? I'm quick to be critical of the government, but there hasn't been a slow down in the oil and gas industry (Ft.Mac and Alberta) like this in a very long tome. More people back on PEI, still unemployed. Let's not be so quick to judge. The fact is that Islanders will rally and have food drives that will help everyone through the tough winter.
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city resident from P.E. writes: Now I have read the story and two things don't make sense. (1) I thought people out west were making the big bucks , why would they not have money to support them when they come home ? (2) in the story it says people on unemployment (not working as many hours) how is this ?
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Bill from PE writes: If this so-called government doesn't get out of office, we will all be using the food bank.
How will they ever survive then ?
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TA from pei writes: One way that most of the shoppers would support the food bank is to allow us to add a certain amount of money to our grocery bill on check out which would be turned over to the food bank. Its convenient, it allows us to shed a little guilt when we look at our over loaded grocery carts, and the food bank would benefit immediately. I would encourage all grocery stores to implement this program on a year round basis. With our technology, tracking, would not be an issue. I do believe that many of us would contribute every time we go shopping. Wouldn't the store also gain by selling more product? Wouldn't the food bank gain by being able to purchase more nutritious food for their clients? I know that I don't take the time to pick up extra items then drop them off in a bin but I would certainly add 10 to 20 bucks to my bill. Can a box store manager tell us why this wouldn't work and how modifying this idea would make it workable.
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Just a question? from PEI writes: The question is - what are the requirements to get food from the food bank? Do you have to prove you don't have food on the table or is there no questions asked.
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