Lu Ahrendt, coordinator of the Osoyoos Food Bank, was presented with a cheque from the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 173 by Brian Lobb in this file photo. (Richard McGuire file photo)
It hasn’t reached the crisis stage yet, but skyrocketing food prices and slow down in public donations has volunteers with the Osoyoos Food Bank worried.
“We always like to have a generous surplus, but our donations are down so much that we don’t have that surplus right now,” said Lu Ahrendt, the longtime administrator with the Osoyoos Food Bank, which is operated by the Osoyoos Baptist Church out of the Cactus Centre behind Osoyoos Elementary School near the Osoyoos Splash Park.
The price of regular food bank staples such as potatoes, beef and onions has skyrocketed over the past 12 months, said Ahrendt.
“About the only thing that hasn’t increased is the price of bananas and carrots,” she said. “For instance, a 100-pound bag of yellow onions have jumped from $28 to $74 in the past few months. The price of 150 pounds of potatoes has jumped from $268 to $339.
“Increases like that really hit small food banks like ours very hard.’
While food bank donations generally slow down significantly during the summer in Osoyoos and across the country as those who normally make regular contributions are on holidays and the number of recipients dwindles, the slowdown in donations in this community over the past two months has been very noticeable, said Ahrendt.
“We expect things to slow down during the summer, but we’re down in donations for pretty much everything,” she said. “We’re down with canned donations and cash donations.
“With fall quickly approaching and kids returning to school very soon, the demand is going to increase and we’re just hoping that regular donations are going to increase as well.”
When the owners of the former Family Foods in Osoyoos announced their retirement and AG Foods from Alberta took over ownership, the food bank was blessed with a huge donation of non-perishable food items, said Ahrendt.
Most of those food items have now been handed out to clients and the shelves need replenishing, said Ahrendt.
Numerous families from across the region have had to access the Osoyoos Food Bank and other regional food banks over the past two weeks following the devastating wildfires near Rock Creek, Oliver and Osoyoos, said Ahrendt.
“We suspect that situation is only going to get worse some people who lost their homes and everything they own just found out last week that they have nothing left,” she said.
The Osoyoos Food Bank had 828 visitors and helped feed more than 1,350 people in 2014 and Ahrendt expects “roughly the same numbers” as the fourth quarter of 2015 approaches.
The reality is there are a lot of residents from Osoyoos and the surrounding region that need to access the Osoyoos Food Bank to feed themselves and their children and that’s not likely to change any time soon, she said.
“A lot of people really need help,” she said. “We’re not in an emergency situation or anything like that, but we could really use a boost in donations to have that surplus you always want to have in case an emergency does take place.”
The Osoyoos Food Bank hands out hampers to regular clients once per month. The next hampers will be handed out on Sept. 18.
Donations of non-perishable food items can be made at the Osoyoos Baptist Church on weekdays from 9 a.m. until noon.
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
