Food banks and shelters feel post-holiday financial pinch

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This article was published 21/02/2023 (975 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A million cups of coffee, 295,000 meals and 41,152 overnight sleeps for 1,331 people make up the 2022 bottom line of a shelter and soup kitchen that serves some of the most needy Winnipeggers.

Siloam Mission relies on donations, and it, like other non-profits that are on the front lines of the battle against poverty, has hit the post-Christmas financial wall.

“I just had a look at our financials and pretty well across the board from Jan. 1 until now, not only do we see the usual slowdown of donations, it is even slower from a normal January and February,” said spokesman Luke Thiessen.

“We set our goals low during this time, and it is even lower than those projections.”

At the same time, the need has ballooned. In 2021, mission staff poured 500,000 cups of coffee, served 83,966 meals and gave overnight shelter to 753 people.

Donations of food and clothing have also dropped, Thiessen said.

Over at Agape Table, which hands out bags of food containing soup, a sandwich and a granola bar every weekday morning to people who line up outside the Furby Street location, the story is the same.

Volunteer co-ordinator Aaron Scarff said in 2022 demand rose to 134,00 meals compared to 85,000 in 2019.

The need keeps rising.

“We serve from 550 to over 700 people a day,” Scarff said. “We were serving 200 to 300 people for sit-down meals, but when COVID hit, we had to close our doors. We still serve hundreds a day and we do it all at our front door. We wouldn’t be able to serve 600 people inside.

“We are 100 per cent donor-funded and our monetary donations have fallen off. Hopefully, we’ll get it up, but it is a concern.”

It’s a common refrain from the non-profit groups and volunteers who help the homeless and working people whose budgets have taken a hit from inflation. Whether it is soup kitchens, overnight shelters or food banks, January and February aren’t just a cold time of the year, they are a chilly time for donations.

Donations are bountiful heading into the Christmas season. It’s not just the holiday spirit that makes people more generous, it’s the tax benefit. Donations made before Dec. 31 can be used to reduce the annual income-tax bite.

Once January arrives, and as gift-purchase bills come in, money gets tight. Charities brace for the tough time of year.

Higher interest rates and inflation make it tougher for Winnipeggers to donate, Thiessen said.

Earthquake relief for Turkey and Syria is another factor.

“We often see some correlation when there are large international things which draw charitable giving and compassion elsewhere,” Thiessen said.

However, donations had sunk before the disaster hit.

“Food donations are down, but we know food prices are high. It could be the increasing cost of food, inflation, and people’s attention elsewhere.

“It is concerning, but we’re not living or dying on our January numbers. If this was to continue, it could spell trouble.”

A few blocks over at Lighthouse Mission on Main Street, director Peter McMullen said they know holiday time is the giving season.

“It goes hand in hand with a lot of year-end financial planning. Things seem to drop and peter out after that, but the need is the same. Your resources dwindle until you get closer to summer.”

Two years ago, McMullen said, they served 180 hot breakfasts and 180 soups daily. Now, that has jumped to 270 hot breakfasts and as many as 400 servings of soup.

“The meals are definitely going up,” he said.

The amount of emergency food it distributes jumped to 30,000 pounds last year, compared to 8,000 pounds in 2020.

McMullen said if people want to help they can donate to the mission’s capital campaign, which will allow it to add as many as 10 detox beds.

“Nobody who walks through the front door of Lighthouse Mission wants to. They walk through because they have to,” he said.

Vince Barletta, president and CEO of Harvest Manitoba, said about 17,000 households, or about 42,000 men, women and children, receive food from the province’s largest food bank.

“That’s more of a doubling of food bank demand since before the pandemic,” Barletta said.

He pointed out the numbers are also up because the food bank is helping people it couldn’t reach in the past.

Harvest Manitoba signed an agreement last year with Scott Harper, chief of the Island Lake Tribal Council, to develop food banks in its four northern fly-in communities.

Food has been shipped in by air, thanks to the federal Nutrition North subsidy, Barletta said. Next week its first shipment of food will be trucked there via ice road.

“That’s helping hundreds of households we were never able to serve before,” he said.

“We’re serving the same record-high levels in the last year because of inflation and the lingering effects of the pandemic. We’re also adding new communities to those we serve.”

Sky Bridges, CEO of The Winnipeg Foundation, said they know the need is on the rise.

It’s recent Vital Signs report had six key findings about gaps in the community, including that it is a challenge for people to get affordable food and safe and affordable housing.

The foundation distributed $85 million in 2022. Solving the city’s problems is a work in progress, Bridges said.

“We don’t have the exact answers. We will invite the agencies together and we will hear from them how to address these gaps. Then we will direct funds,” he said.

The type of person who needs help is changing, Scarff said.

“We’ll see a pick-up truck with a company logo on the side and the person gets out to get food,” he said.

“We’re not just dealing with the marginalized community, but also feeding the working class because of inflation. We don’t turn them away.”

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca