Charlottetown food bank moving to bigger building nearby as demand keeps going up

Charlottetown's main food bank is relocating to a larger building as sky-high grocery prices continue to place an increasing demand on its services.

The Upper Room Food Bank, currently located at 34 Belmont St. in Charlottetown, is moving down the road to the former Chandler's Home Centre location at 15 Plywood Pl.

The move amounts to only "a couple hundred feet," said executive director Mike MacDonald, but it could lead to a meaningful improvement in the food bank's daily operations.

"Every move is a significant move, but it shouldn't be too hard for the clients to find us," he said. "We're always trying to do a little bit better, and this was an opportunity."

The Upper Room Food Bank in Charlottetown is moving to the former Chandler's Home Centre location on Plywood Place, pictured here. (Stephen Brun/CBC News)

The food bank's final day at its Belmont Street address will be Friday, Oct. 25. The new building will open Monday, Nov. 4, with the same hours of operation. In the intervening week, it will be open only for donation drop-offs.

As for the old building, MacDonald said, Holland College is leasing it and will be making use of the space.

'Nice, comfortable atmosphere'

The new building boasts an additional 300 square metres of floor space, but the differences don't end there.

Among the benefits are a bright area for welcoming clients and donors, private offices for meetings with new and returning clients, large loading doors and a dedicated waiting area.

"We always strive to make a nice, comfortable atmosphere for people to come into and feel good about," MacDonald said. "So we're hoping it will help."

Perhaps most important, according to MacDonald, is the extra open space to "take more food in and ship more food out."

The building also has higher ceilings, meaning the food bank will be able to stack pallets of donated food higher.

Demand increasing

In recent years, P.E.I food banks have raised the alarm about high demand for their services.

Many regular donors are themselves feeling the pinch of higher grocery prices, meaning declining donations and less capacity to buy food with what donations they do receive.

Mike MacDonald wheels a shopping cart of turkeys to the freezers at the Belmont Street facility in a 2016 file photo. (Pat Martel/CBC)

In September, the situation forced the long-established food bank in Montague to reduce its service.

As for the Upper Room Food Bank, the move comes on the heels of one of its busiest times of year: the back-to-school season.

Speaking to CBC News in August, MacDonald estimated the bank supports an average of about 1,100 families and 950 children each month.

He said he hopes the new space will help meet that increasing demand.

"It's a work in progress, that's for sure. We got to do some work on making sure that it's most efficient for us and most efficient for our volunteers," he said, before adding:"We're excited for the move."