The food bank in the Battlefords has seen an 8 percent drop in the number of clients.

Executive Director Bill Hall says there are several reasons for that.

For one thing, rents in the Battlefords are high and vacancies are low, so some clients have moved elsewhere. 

But there’s another reason: clients have to disclose their income.

“We instituted a new program as far as our client review process, our client intake process, we’ve asked people to start providing information on where they live and also financial information and I’ve set criteria for qualification to use the food bank.” 

As a result, some people didn’t qualify.

Hall says those people seem to have found jobs, and don’t need the food bank now anyway.