Kitimat Food Bank usage down, donations up amid COVID-19 pandemic

COVID-19 might have people at home, however the Kitimat Food Bank says it is experiencing significantly lower usage than normal for this time of the year.

Kitimat Food Bank president Marjorie Phelps told the Kitimat Northern Sentinel she isn’t sure what the cause of the reduction in usage is, adding that it could be due a number of factors such as individuals self-isolating or moving out of the area, or due to stimulus measures announced by the federal government such as the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB).

READ MORE: 80,000 reasons to support the food bank

In terms of figures, she said the food bank routinely gets over 120 users in April. This year, as of April 21, she estimated it had only seen 60.

But while usage might be down, donations are anything but. “This town is so awesome, it’s not even funny, I mean we get local people coming in and giving us a cheque for 500 or $1,000,” she said. “We have not gone out looking for money but our food bank has been stocked since Christmas … money has just been coming in.”

To that point, she added a benefit of donating money or gift cards to the food bank is they can often go further in their hands than in the hands of a member of the public. “For you to go out and buy a case of something we can probably get two cases for that one case because the stores will give us a discount or let us know when it’s coming on sale, that type of thing,” she explained.

But all donations are happily accepted, and for anyone donating food Phelps said one of the things they are currently short on is canned vegetables.

Currently the City Centre Mall that the food bank operates out of is closed to the public, however the food bank is still running on its usual Tuesday and Thursday hours.

The organization is taking a number of sanitary precautions, including setting up at a table that extends out of their door with a note asking users to keep back two metres. Food bank workers then put the recipient’s hamper onto the table, pushes it down towards the user and step back. The recipient picks up their hamper (currently the food bank is forgoing their signature policy as a sanitary measure) and staff — who are also equipped with masks and gloves — wipe down the table with disinfectant after they leave.

Numerous businesses in recent weeks have upped their donations to the organization and the nearby Kitimat Food Share, something Phelps said does not go unnoticed. “I’d just like to thank the people of Kitimat for their generosity.”