Growing need forces North Battleford food bank to reduce size of hampers

“I did have a conversation with the NDP and I did make it clear to her that I was aware that the $2 million we got over two years was a one-time thing. I was honestly surprised to get it in the first place,” she said.

While the previous funding helped BDFRC provide more food to people in need around the Battlefords region, there has been an increase in demand recently. In March, the food bank supported 2,484 individuals, 56 per cent of which were children.

“We ran out of bread last week and that doesn’t normally happen. Usually, we run out of the food that we gather from Christmas at the end of April. We ran out quicker this year,” Katerynych said.

Minister of Social Services Terry Jenson spoke to the NDP’s concerns during Question Period. He also recognized the allocation of $2 million to food banks, which has now concluded.

“That was during a time of unprecedented inflation that we saw across the country of Canada. Every province was affected by food inflation,” he said.

He added that this year’s provincial budget will provide $2.5 billion of affordability enhancements.

“Things that include the doubling of the Active Families Benefit. We are also taking more individuals off the tax rolls; enabling individuals in this province to keep more of their own money in their own pocket to be able to spend it where they think they need to spend it,” said Jenson.

During the NDPs visit to North Battleford last week, Senger called on the Sask. Party to immediately reinstate funding for food banks.

“People are choosing between rent and groceries; people are choosing between food and medicine,” she said.

In response, during an interview with battlefordsNOW, Jeremy Cockrill, MLA for the Battlefords reiterated the budget’s target of making life more affordable.

“The province is staying very focused on providing broad-based affordability measures and that means taxes have been decreased once again this year for every single person in the province,” he said.

However, Senger stated that what the government put forward in the budget shows no real affordability measures.

“What they actually put forward are tax credits. Tax credits don’t help people immediately when people need relief. They don’t help people afford groceries. A tax credit doesn’t do much at all, especially for people that are already struggling. There needs to be immediate action,” said Senger.

She urged the premier, the minister of social services, and the MLA for the Battlefords to visit BDFRC to hear directly from families and frontline workers.

Meanwhile, the food bank director said she has remained in close communication with the government.

“Jeremy Cockrell’s been here before. We do chat occasionally; I keep him informed if there’s anything that I would like to bring up, and he’s good at getting back to me,” said Katerynych.

She added that an overall decrease in the price of food would make the biggest impact on BDFRC.

“Our Food for Kids program has jumped up, and the food that we get for that program is easy to make on your own, child-friendly food. It’s not the healthiest, but the price of it has basically tripled. So, a reduction in the price of food would be lovely,” she explained.

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Alyssa.rudolph@pattisonmedia.com

by Alyssa Rudolph

Growing need forces North Battleford food bank to reduce size of hampers

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