Linda Markovich poses in her backyard in North Battleford on Aug 26 2024. She has had a close relationship with BDFRC for over a decade, and says her experience as a client and volunteer developed her into a better person. (Kenneth Cheung / battlefordsNOW staff )

By Kenneth Cheung

HELPING HANDS

‘There is no weakness in asking for help’: Former food bank client, now volunteer shares her story

Aug 27, 2024 | 3:17 PM

“It takes a strong person to ask for help,” Linda Markovich says.

The Battlefords resident is a long-serving volunteer at the Battlefords District Food and Resource Centre (BDFRC), but at one time, she was also a client.

Originally from Calgary, she moved to North Battleford in 2008. She recalled having a rather unpleasant experience soliciting help in the past.

“I was very nervous the first time I asked for assistance in Alberta. I owned a house once, and when my mortgage had to be renewed, it tripled my mortgage payment, and I couldn’t afford it. So, I phoned social services and said I needed help. The social worker told me, ‘We couldn’t help; your dad owns his own company. He can help.’

“But I’m an adult with two children, and it was not my father’s problem at all.”

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When she arrived in North Battleford, she was jobless and still struggling financially. She was afraid she’d be turned away by the food bank. However, she was relieved to find support at the BDFRC.

“When your cupboards are not bare, oh, it’s the greatest thing ever,” Markovich said.

“I remember distinctly how welcoming the food bank felt, and I didn’t feel ashamed that I couldn’t feed myself. I was so grateful for their assistance.”

“Back then, they always had baked goods and bagged Tim Hortons pastries that you could get on Thursdays. Not having much money, those Thursdays were such a treat,” she recalled.

Markovich believes asking for help is never a sign of weakness. (Kenneth Cheung/battlefordsNOW Staff)

After Markovich regained her footing, she returned to the place that brought order to her chaos by volunteering. It was that decision, she said, which taught her valuable life lessons.

“As smooth as your life goes, you never know when things come up. Life happens to all of us, and I’m very happy for the people who have not stumbled and do not need help. But it takes a strong person to ask for help, and there’s no weakness in that,” she said.

According to the Food Banks Canada Hunger Count, conducted in March 2023, the number of visits to food banks in Canada reached nearly two million that year — a 32 per cent rise from March 2022 and a 78.5 per cent increase from March 2019. That is the largest year-over-year surge in food bank usage documented.

As per the data, the total number of visits in Saskatchewan was 55,753, a 49.8 per cent increase since 2019.

While Markovich said the food bank is a way to survive when there are stumbles in life, she is concerned there is a stigma still preventing people from getting the help they need.

“A bright smile might mask a growling stomach,” she said.

“People who judge don’t tend to understand that we all might stumble one day, and we’ll need a helping hand. They believe you just walk off the street, park your new vehicle, enter the food bank, and leave with everything. No, that person in that vehicle might have lost his job, and between the payment, maintenance, and insurance, plus their rent and stuff, they could be broke.”

Last month, the Saskatchewan government announced a $2 million assistance fund for the Food Banks of Saskatchewan to help families and food banks with high food costs this year.

“Inflation continues to accelerate, seriously impacting hunger and food insecurity, not only among low-income households but even those in higher income brackets. With demand increasing and donations decreasing, this help comes at a critical time to help us feed our friends, neighbours, and families,” Michael Kincade, the executive director of the Food Banks of Saskatchewan, said in a release.

Markovich believes the government should assist Indigenous communities in establishing food banks on their reserves so those who are unable to drive into the city area can easily access help.

Ultimately, she hopes that people too proud to seek help from the food bank will lower their guard and stop bullying themselves into thinking it’s a sign of weakness. She believes that people tend to trap themselves in the limitations they set, preventing them from getting better.

“We are our own worst enemy, and that’s a very difficult thing to work around, no matter how old you are,” she said.

In the meantime, she will continue volunteering at BDFRC. She said relationships with the people she’s met there have developed into close friendships.

“The ladies at the food bank are my lightness. I laughed with them, and [they] help me realize that, wait, you know what? You’re overthinking things.”

Linda Markovich poses in her backyard in North Battleford on Aug 26 2024. She has had a close relationship with BDFRC for over a decade, and says her experience as a client and volunteer developed her into a better person. (Kenneth Cheung / battlefordsNOW staff )

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Kenneth.Cheung@pattisonmedia.com