Rising costs force Stephenville food bank to shrink hamper weights to stay open
Stephenville Emergency Food Services has made the decision to eliminate meat and other high-cost products from its food hampers due to rising costs and the loss of a longtime community partner. (Stephenville Emergency Food Services/Facebook)
The loss of a community grocery store in Stephenville is having a big impact on the western Newfoundland town's emergency food bank, which has decided to tighten its screening process and reduce the weight of its hampers due to costs and demand.
The Indian Head Co-Op, which closed in July, had been open in the community for nearly six decades. It worked closely with Stephenville Emergency Food Services to deliver meat and other goods at low cost to the food bank.
Without them, Pastor Gerad Noble, the food bank's appointed chair, said costs for meats have risen by upwards of 27 per cent. The group has decided to change what it serves and has opted for eggs over its normal offerings of ground meats and chicken thighs.
"The food bank is entirely driven by volunteers. We don't have our own delivery service, we don't even have a dependable schedule, I suppose, on what we can commit ourselves to in picking up stock at the grocery stores themselves," Noble told CBC Radio Monday.
"So the loss of a delivery service, the loss of cost has really made an impact in our overall budget."
Noble said the food bank has seen about 10 new people per week on average since August, and helped over 600 people over that month.
He said change was necessary in order to keep the doors open.
"At the rate that we were going, we would be run dry before the fifth of December," he said. "The number of people coming to us in legitimate crisis is staggering."
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The food bank also decided to tighten its screening process by asking for MCP cards at pickup to ensure that everyone is treated fairly and can avail of services equally. He said that the loss of the co-op is being felt across the community.
"It may seem like we're tightening things up. What I want them to know is that we'll never ever punish anyone in crisis," he said.
"We're making sure that everyone is treated fairly and no one goes hungry."
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