Food Bank in desperate need of donations

Empty shelves at the Food Bank Edmonton’s Food Bank is struggling to keep up, and demand keeps growing.

Edmonton’s Food Bank is putting out a call for more donations, saying the number of people the organization is serving continues to rise – going into this weekend’s Heritage Festival, the organization’s single largest food and fundraising drive.

Back in 2016, client numbers reached a record high, and those numbers have continued to grow in 2017.

Now, Executive Director Marjorie Bencz told CTV News the organization has been relying on purchased food to serve clients.

“It’s a very bad situation for Edmonton’s Food Bank,” Bencz said.

The organization’s single largest food and fundraising drive is the Heritage Festival, which takes place at Hawrelak Park this weekend – and they’re counting on the community to help.

“Certainly we saw a few years when the numbers didn’t fluctuate, we were serving between 12,000 and 15,000,” Bencz said. “We are seeing really high numbers, almost approaching 25,000 people.”

During the Fort McMurray wildfire in 2016, Edmonton’s Food Bank was an important source of food for evacuees – officials said if another similar disaster were to happen at this time, the organization would not be able to provide the same level of support.

The Heritage Festival runs from August 5 to 7 in Hawrelak Park, volunteers for the Food Bank will be on site to accept non-perishable food items and monetary donations at the three main entrances to the park. The organization also accepts unused food tickets, which are redeemed by the organization for cash after the festival.

Officials said food donations can be left in donation boxes at major grocery stores and at City of Edmonton Fire Halls.

With files from Jonathan Glasgow