Cortes Island Food Bank Drive To Meet Rising Local Need

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - he Cortes Island Food Bank recently launched a food drive to meet unprecedented needs. Cortes Currents met with two of the charity’s key personnel in the garage where most of the food is stored. Executive Director Filipe Figuera explained :

“The situation is getting worse on Cortes. It is the same across the country.  Two years ago, we had 100 client visits  a year. This year we had 600, that's about 50 clients a month. People are really suffering economically. The good news is that we're in a better situation to help those people. We've really built up the capacity of the food bank to deal with this emergency. We’ve got some really good staff and good food, but it's not a good situation.” 

Cortes Currents: I understand that Food Banks Canada has just released their annual hunger count. What are the highlights from that? 

Filipe Figuera: “The picture is pretty bleak across the country. They do a count every March and the numbers increased again this year. In March 2024, there were 2 million visits to food banks across Canada. That's the highest ever. It's a 6% increase from 2023 and a 90% increase compared to 2019.”

“The numbers just keep increasing. I think a lot of food banks are really struggling with this pressure. I know that 30% of food banks across the network actually ran out of food before they could serve all clients. At least 33% of all clients across the country are children and a new thing that's happening is that 18% of food bank users are now employed. They've got jobs, but they just haven't got enough money at the end of the month to buy the food they need to survive. That's a huge increase. It was  historically around 5% to 6% and then it crept up to 10% and now it's 18%. There's a lot of economic pressures on people across Canada.

We've known about housing for years. We've got people who won’t be able to afford to buy their home - ever - but now we're seeing working people who can't afford to buy enough food to survive to the end of the month. 

It's a great report. Google Hunger Count 2024.  Have a look at the data, it's really interesting. 
  
Cortes Currents: How can people get food? 

Angelica Raaen responded, “The easiest way and the best way is through our website.  Select the location, either Manson's or the Gorge,  and then the day you want to pick up.  It'll ask a few questions about your family size or your household size  and your dietary restrictions, if there are any. Then you just book it and we'll have it ready for you on the day that you booked. 

Cortes Currents: Why do people need to pre-book?  

Angelica Raaen: “We don't have a purpose built food bank facility.  The food is stored at a private residence, in a garage.  We have to go pack the food into  hampers and transport them to the pickup locations. This takes a  couple of days to prepare, so it's better if people book in advance.” 

“So, the best way to book is through a website with the booking form, but you can also call us  or email us if the website is a barrier for you.  The phone number is 1-672-202-0052 (it’s a local number) and our email is [email protected]."