Stocking up for ‘a long winter’

Community rallies to serve ‘steady increase’ in Yarmouth food bank clients

Recognizing the prevailing economic hardships, the Yarmouth Food Bank Society is bracing for an expected challenging winter.

With prices of food, gas and other essentials on the rise, the non-profit organization is helping more people each month and counting on continued community support to restock the Yarmouth food bank shelves.

“Every little bit helps,” said society president Rev. A.D. (Bill) Newell. “I’ve got a feeling it’s going to be a long winter.

“The spikes in the cost of living, rent is going up, gasoline, oil is double from last year, I’m told, and the electricity is likely to go up.

“And if you’re on assistance, or you’re working part time at minimum wage, there’s absolutely no way you can make ends meet.”

The COVID-19 pandemic and its associated government support actually bought people time in their need of the food bank, but those clients now are steadily returning, Rev. Newell reported.

“During COVID, the clientele numbers dropped because people were getting CERB (Canada Emergency Response Benefit) money from the government,” he said. “Some of them probably hadn’t had that much money in a long time, so they didn’t need us as much.

“But since then, the numbers are starting to increase, so I don’t anticipate they’re going to go down in the next few months.”