The Grande Prairie Salvation Army is $52,169 away from its $600,000 goal for the 2022 Kettle Campaign. Executive Director Captain Peter Kim says the money raised will help the foodbank keep up with the continued demand in the city as it grows.
“The goal I set last year for the $600,000 didn’t factor in the inflation and cost of everything,” Kim says. “So it is still a goal that we set, but we also realize it’s probably not as much as we need because of how many people that are using our services.”
Since the pandemic the food bank has seen more than 3,000 new households, which is equal to one in five residents in Grande Prairie accessing either the food bank or the community kitchen. Forty-one percent of the families who use the food bank have children under the age of 18, while seven per cent of those visitors were seniors on a fixed income.
“We are already passed 550 Christmas hampers for our households, so if you times 550 by three on average that is what we have already been serving so far and we still have the rest of this week.”
Kim says that during their annual food drive in September, donations were down by around 15 tons. So, with the combination of less food, fewer volunteers, and fewer donations plus exponentially increased demand, it is the perfect storm that has led to a food security crisis. Right now Kim says there isn’t enough food in the food bank’s warehouse to keep up with demand.
He explains around this time of year the food bank asks for monetary donations so they can buy gift cards so their clients can go straight to grocery stores. Doing this gives those food bank clients level of dignity as they can shop for items.
Last week the Salvation Army’s kettle campaign received a $150,000 donation from Ken Sargent GMC Buick.