Need for food on the rise in the west

Volunteers at the Oilfields Food Bank are having no problem meeting an increasing demand this year with the help of partnerships and initiatives in the community.

Glenn Chambers, Oilfields Food Bank president, said the regional operation is catering to more families and individuals in need this year, but is using overstock food items and anticipating an abundance of food and monetary donations during the upcoming firefighters food drive in November.

“I wouldn’t say that it’s gone up significantly, but it’s noticeable the number of people in need of the food bank services,” he said. “We have been able to meet the demand and therefore we are finding we’ve been able to use some of our overstock.”

A recent tally reveals the food bank is handing out an average of six hampers a week and is receiving one to two new requests each month.

The Oilfields Food Bank partnered with the Okotoks and Calgary food banks to help each other out when in need of certain food items, Chambers said.

“It will do well to help us with the shortages we get throughout the year,” he said. “Sometimes we have shortages of such food as peanut butter and cereal.”

The Oilfields Food Bank is also a member of the province-wide organization Alberta Food Banks.

“It’s a national food program where we can get pallets of food,” he said. “Because we have a small facility and are limited with space we can’t take a big pallet of food.”

Chambers said food bank volunteers are trying to clear out their overstock.

With the firefighters food drive coming up in November, Chambers is concerned they might not have space for all of the donations this fall.

“What we do now is we have been trying to move a lot of the food that we have in the food bank out to clients simply because the firefighters in Black Diamond and Turner Valley do a food drive in November and last year we did not have enough room to accommodate it,” she said, adding some food was sent to Calgary. “We have about 500 square feet of storage space in the basement of the United Church and access to their kitchen and open areas for sorting food. It has been a problem.”

About two years ago the food bank installed storage racks to better utilize the space in the basement of the Lewis Memorial United Church, but putting more food in hampers recently has also helped clear up some room.

“We are doing that intentionally, but there is also a little higher need so we are putting out more hampers,” he said. “We have a set number of things we have in the hampers. When we have excess we provide excess.”

Money collected from cash donations and local fundraisers help the food bank purchase perishable food items like milk, eggs and bread weekly, said Chambers.

He said the organization is in need of an additional volunteer to purchase those food items once a week.

Those interested in taking on the position are encouraged to call the Lewis Memorial United Church at 403-933-4144.

“We have no paid staff,” he said. “Everybody is volunteer.”

As for those in need of food, Chambers said it ranges from people who are more regular users to those who need it as a one-time thing in cases where they might be between jobs.

The food bank serves the Millarville, Priddis, Turner Valley, Black Diamond and Longview areas.

“We don’t turn people away,” he said. “We help them assess their needs and if we can help them find work and other resources we do that. We want to make sure that whatever we do for them is beneficial and it allows them to move forward. We keep track of a number of people from year to year. We do a quick analysis at the end of the year to determine how many are repeat, are there year after year.”

The Oilfields Food Bank’s doors are open Tuesdays from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Donations of food can be made at the church or various drop boxes around Black Diamond and Turner Valley.