A volatile combination of high housing costs, pandemic job losses, rising food costs and an anticipated further pull-back on government supports is creating a “perfect storm” that has Canada’s food banks bracing for a “tidal wave” of new clients in the months ahead. And our food bank is not an exception!
Joel Perry spent 38 years in the insurance business before exchanging his briefcase for keys to one of our 5-ton trucks. ‘Do what you love, and you won’t work a day in your life’ are words Joel lives by every time he comes to work at the Calgary Food Bank to collect food for fellow Calgarians who are experiencing food insecurity.
Right now, we are feeding 1,000 Calgarians a day. Hundreds of hampers are being distributed to neighbours, friends and families who need food support during this incredibly trying time. Volunteers make up half of the workforce in our warehouse; they sort, build and distribute hampers.
We were built on a foundation of faith, not as an expression of religion but on the sense of community. Even more true today, when the collective desire to help others continues as the need for food support touches more lives.
Mikala Wilson is a Primary Care Dietitian with Mosaic Primary Care Network (PCN) and a former volunteer with the Calgary Food Bank. In the spring of 2020, she volunteered in the food distribution area; a few months later, she was asked to help with Food Hamper Nutrition Analysis. THAT was a changing moment for her and for us.