Employed Food Bank Users Are More Common Than You Think

When we hear about food bank services, we often associate these with people without employment; however, due to the rising cost of living across Canada, more families than ever before are needing to access these services. Even when employed.

This is the case for Jane’s family (not her real name), who have been visiting The Salvation Army’s Dunnville Food Bank in Simcoe, Ont., for the past year.

“Sometimes I’ve held off from going to the food bank because I think ‘well maybe there’s somebody who is more needy than we are. So maybe we just won’t go this month,’ But then it gets to be too hard, and we have no alternative,” Jane said.

Both Jane and her husband are currently employed full-time, yet even with two incomes, it is still a struggle to financially maintain their three children.

“We have a mortgage, car insurance and everything is going up. I don’t know how people without a job are getting by. My heart breaks for them,” Jane added.

Throughout the years Jane accessed the food bank on and off. She doesn’t go during months in which her family feels financially stable.

A big factor as to why she has accessed the service recently is because she wants to feed her children healthy food. However, the rising grocery costs have made it impossible for her to afford to.

“Lately, the reason I’ve been using the services is because everything is getting so expensive.”

“Lately, the reason I’ve been using the services is because everything is getting so expensive. I wanted to buy some healthy groceries for my children, like fruits and vegetables. And I couldn’t even fill a small grocery bag for less than $75. It’s hard to feed my children healthy food without it costing an arm and a leg,” she explained.

Since resuming her visits to the food bank, Jane has noticed that many other families are in the same situation. A recent Salvation Army survey determined that 59 percent of Canadians that accessed a food bank in the past year were first-time users.

“I’m just so grateful for the food bank, The Salvation Army and everything that they do for the community.”

Despite the difficult economic situation she is going through, Jane feels very satisfied with the support she has received and has even given back to the food bank.

“I’m just so grateful for the food bank, The Salvation Army and everything that they do for the community. They’re just a wonderful organization,” Jane said. “In the past when we’ve been a little bit more financially stable, we always give to the food bank. I recently put together a small bag of what we could afford to donate.”

While they are still concerned with finances, Jane’s husband recently got a new job that is more financially stable than his previous one. They are hoping this will help improve their situation soon.

“He has been doing very well at his new job. We are hoping that at some point shortly, before the children go back to school, we will no longer be reliant on the food bank’s services,” Jane said.

By Juan Romero