The ongoing Saskatoon transit dispute is affecting people who access the food bank.
Roughly 25 per cent of the 12,000 people who use the food bank’s services each month depend on bus service to get there.
Saskatoon Food Bank Executive Director Laurie O’Connor says as a solution to the problem the organization will be offering a temporary hamper delivery service.
“We feel that people who are using our services who are used to relying on public transportation because of their distance from our organization are possibly being put in a more vulnerable situation at the moment and we want people to have access to our services,” she says.
O’Connor says those who depend on the food bank are just one of a number of groups across the city being affected by the transit dispute.
“The situation with transit is affecting a great many people in our community. Of course there’s all kinds of people using transit. You know, people who are going to school, people who are trying to get to medical appointments and of course people who are trying to use any of the social services agencies that are located across the city.”
She says the hamper delivery service is going to be primarily volunteer driven.
This week, the food bank will be organizing deliveries on Tuesday and Thursday afternoon from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.