Giving season over, but need remains at P.E.I. food banks

Feeding the need: Post-holiday slump A local foodbank expects to help more people than ever – over the next few months.

The season of giving is coming to an end, but that doesn’t mean the need has gone away in Prince Edward Island.

In fact, one local food bank is expecting to help more people than ever over the next few months.

Things have quieted down since Christmas at the Upper Room Food Bank in Charlottetown, but they expect the busiest time of year to start now.

The three months before Christmas featured their biggest food drives of the year

Their shelves currently have the remains of three of their biggest food drives of the year, which happened in the three months leading up to Christmas.

“In the new year donations slow down. Unfortunately business, for us, doesn’t slow down,” said Mike MacDonald, executive director of Upper Room Hospitality Ministry Inc. “Actually, January, February, March are our busiest times of the year, with people coming in looking for help, and I don’t think this year will be any different.”

They were only open for six days in December, but still handed out food boxes to nearly 1,000 families and then 1,000 more Christmas hampers later in the month.

It may look like there’s plenty of food, but workers and volunteers pack around 600 boxes each week, and that food goes quickly.

Three-thousand-four-hundred-fifty-seven people used the food bank in November, more than 200 new families registered in the last two months, and 15 more on Wednesday alone.

Food banks are seeing a huge jump. Just three years ago 70 families would’ve been a busy day at the Upper Room Food Bank and now a regular day sees nearly 100 families.

“To put it into perspective, when I started here, there would be pallets like this, that we see everywhere, and I thought, ‘We’ll never get through this,’ you know, ‘I’ll be long gone by the time,’ but we go through pallets of food, pallets, and very quickly,” said Alex Davison.

Davison has been volunteering at the food bank since last October, but didn’t hesitate when asked if the need has gone up.

“Yes. Gone up. Without a doubt,” said Davison.

MacDonald said the last six months have been record breaking and they need continued donations to keep up.

For more Prince Edward Island news visit our dedicated provincial page.