Before the doors at Dalhousie University’s food bank even open, students are lined up. On Thursday afternoon the team had 88 students register to get food and they expected that number to grow by close at 5 p.m. “When you don’t have additional support available, like say you don’t have support from your family or aren’t able to get loans or grants, you reach a situation where you have to use these kinds of services,” says Anjali Seshadri, Dalhousie Student Union president. Seshadri says the squeeze on expenses has increased the number of people who rely on their food bank services. Thursdays are their busiest days of the week, as they are exclusive to students. Every day but Monday and Thursday, community members can also register to use the foodbank but twice a week it’s only open to students. “I think just because of that pressure that everyone’s feeling it’s important to access these services, so we get a queue of students that come in from outside. It may be unexpected for people who might not have heard of this before but there has been quite a bit of an increased demand over the last few years,” Seshadri says. Feed Nova Scotia donates weekly to the food bank. The demand continues to climb and they need help. Monetary donations are their preference but welcome all assistance. They also hand out hygiene items and clothes. “Especially where we are seeing short supply of particular items, say when it comes to fresh produce, dairy products or milk, even if we get in deliveries of…non perishable items, we are running short supply on those kinds of foods,” says Seshadri. Saint Mary’s University also has a food room and they have seen a jump in demand as well. Liza Zahid, the university’s student union president, says on average they service around 20 people a day. “Because of the affordability crisis that we are going through and how expensive things are. Just in last year’s numbers we had 3,500 appointments all throughout the academic year and from that we had 1,600 unique users and each year the numbers go up higher,” says Zahid. From bread to frozen food to fruits and vegetables, they have lots to choose from. They are open to the public as well as students at other schools but prioritize those who attend Saint Mary’s. People can register and pick up food once a week. “From each item that we have, they can have a specific number. They can have as many different kinds of items as they want. So within the fruits, they can have five kinds of fruits, for the two meats, we even have Halal options,” says Zahid. Zahid says one thing she has noticed this year is fewer international students. “International students are the ones that need the support the most and because we don’t have that many international students coming in, those numbers dwindle sometimes,” says Zahid. The food room is also always looking for donations, whether it’s food or funds. “We are open from Monday to Friday, from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. and we are fully volunteer run so students volunteer to be here. They give us a lot of time. We always have volunteers but we are always open to more volunteers and whenever someone walks in they make an appointment online and they walk in and give us their A number or tell us they are from the community and they can come pick out whatever they want,” says Zahid The Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC) also has programs available for students on a budget who need help financially. NSCC offers a student pantry, which is operated by their student association. “The College doesn’t collect significant data on this program, however, we are acutely aware of the growing financial pressures facing students, including the rising costs of food, housing, transportation, and other essentials,” says Lori Foran, NSCC student supports director, in a statement to CTV News. Foran says the demand for their emergency and immediate needs program continues to increase. “Through both our student awards program and campus-based support services, we have seen student financial need grow,” says Foran. The college says their student support teams have partnered with the Student Associations and their Foundation to provide grocery gift cards to students as well to help them access essential food supplies when budgets are tight. For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
