2023 was one of the busiest years the Prince Albert Food Bank has ever seen. Roughly 14,000 hampers were given out, which is approximately 1100 hampers a month.
In August the Food Bank set a record of 1290 hampers in a month.
Executive Director Kim Scruby told MBC that when he started at the Food Bank around 6 years ago there was an average of around 700 hampers given out per month.
In 2022 the Food Bank handed out around 12,300 hampers, or 1000 a month. Last year the Prince Albert community came together to support the Food Bank with food drives and donations, especially throughout the holiday season.
“The Prince Albert Grand Council partnered with the Police and Cadets, and they did a huge food drive for us. Schools, businesses, individuals, it was pretty much a constant stream of food coming in,” said Scruby.
It seems that the number of individuals using the Food Bank continues to increase each year and isn’t going to slow down this year. That being said, in the upcoming years there could be more entry-level employment opportunities for Prince Albert and area residents which could help bring down numbers at the Food Bank.
“Looking further down the road, when the mill reopens, the OSB plant, a lot of the expansion with forestry and mining up north, I actually think we’ll start to see some relief,” explained Scruby.
The Food Bank most likely won’t see a big change in numbers this year compared to last year, but those upcoming employment opportunities are exciting to look forward to for the Food Bank and individuals using the Food Bank.
(The Prince Albert Food Bank receiving a donation last year. Courtesy of Facebook.)