Tag: Wood Buffalo Food Bank

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Economic Ft Mac Health

$1 Million Donation Made to Wood Buffalo Food Bank, Local Families Benefit

A $1 million donation to the Wood Buffalo Food Bank will benefit local families and the community. The food bank recently saw a drastic increase in demand after the wildfire and evacuation, forcing them to deal with lines that snaked around the block and fears that food would run short. Originally the donation was provided to Alberta Food Banks, and the donation amount was $2.4 million. By the middle of June close to half of the donation grant was transferred to the Woof Buffalo Food Bank, and the money was very much needed. Arianna Johnson, WBFB executive director, explained that a majority of the money went towards extra staff and equipment needed to keep up with local demand. “We’ve never really needed a forklift but we’re currently unloading upwards of three semis a week. We bought a new forklift, we bought a couple pallet jacks, we bought things like milk crates and boxes and reusable grocery bags.”

Johnson expressed gratitude for the $1 million donation to the Wood Buffalo Food Bank, but described how the agency is still restricted in what can be provided. “Even with more money, we don’t have the capacity to do more than 150 hampers a day because we don’t have the space to be able to function. We had to put a cap on it so that we could do our daily order of perishables, because without a cap we really have no idea how much to order. We will be going back to that conversation with the Red Cross about long term needs, because we do know that five to ten years after a disaster, food banks are still impacted by that disaster.” Thanks to the donation the food bank has started offering more perishable items in their hampers.

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Economic Ft Mac

Extended Hours Announced by Wood Buffalo Food Bank

The Wood Buffalo Food Bank has announced extended hours in the hopes of meeting a demand that is continually increasing, and with the goal of eliminating the previous two week wait times in place. The new hours for the food bank starting on April 25 will be from 8:30 am until 8 pm from Monday through Friday. Volunteers can still visit the food bank on the second Saturday of each month. There are also two new positions being added to help reduce wait times as well. According to a press release statement from Arianna Johnson, the executive director of the food bank, “Now that we have identified and hired these two new people we are just about ready to extend our hours; however, these two new employees still need some time to be trained.”

Dan Edwards, client intake manager for the Wood Buffalo Food Bank, also talked about the extended hours. Edwards said that the current wait time of two weeks is something that is heartbreaking. “I feel bad telling someone ‘I’m sorry, I understand that your family is starving and that there’s no food in the house, I just can’t do anything until this point.’ Will there still be wait times at times, yes. But if we can shorten it down back to a couple of days at most, that’s the ideal timeframe that we want.” Clients must make an appointment to use the food bank, and schedule a time that they can create a food hamper with the assistance of the staff at the food bank.

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Economic Ft Mac

The Wood Buffalo Food Bank Broke Distribution Records as Hunger and Food Need Continue to Rise

hunger, Wood Buffalo Food Bank

In August the Wood Buffalo Food Bank made organization history, however the history was made because of record numbers of people facing hunger. The food bank handed out 422 food baskets in August pf this year, and that is more than any other previous month. Arianna Johnson, the executive director of the Wood Buffalo Food Bank, told the media that “We’ve never broken 400, eve. So it was a fairly staggering, humbling month.” Johnson also discussed the fact that the numbers for the entire year of 2015 have been high, with an increase in demand. The executive director talked about the fact that many in the community have been laid off due to the downturn in the oil industry. These unemployed workers have probably already used up savings and now need help just to have sufficient food each month.

The demand for food help in the area served by the Wood Buffalo Food Bank shows just how pervasive hunger can be. The recent economic downturn has resulted in more people needing help than ever before. Johnson explained that approximately 15 individuals who used to donate to the food bank can no longer do so, and these people have now had to ask for food assistance themselves. “Significant individual donors, who donate annually, (have become) people who are now using our services, which is kind of scary.” When asked if the agency had plans to decrease the amount of food in each basket Johnson explained “Certainly it’s not something we want to do. But it’s better that everyone get something than some people getting nothing.”