An increase in clients at the Chestermere Regional Food bank could cause them to spend existing funds and resources faster than expected.
Food bank Executive Director Mardi Oel thinks that the food bank has funding for up to two years depending on how much the need increases.
“Our clients have pretty much doubled this year,” she said, “we weren’t expecting the clients to double.”
Despite this increase, Oel isn’t concerned that an application for funding to city council was turned down at the Aug. 15 council meeting.
The reason they were turned down was that the food bank still has money left from a 2015 city grant for training and promotional materials.
“We really weren’t expecting to get any money,” said Oel who had thought the food bank had withdrawn the request.
She said that the food bank will continue to review their needs and apply again to the city for funding if and when it is needed.
In addition to funding, the food bank and Chestermere Community Services work together and share services and programs.
“I think that the food bank and our community services work very well together,” said Deputy Mayor Gail Smith.
The food bank continues to have a great relationship with the city said Oel.
“We’re invited to everything,” she said.
While they continue to work to ensure sufficient funding, the food bank maintains a focus on meeting the day to day needs of its clients.
To that end, the food bank recently purchased a new refrigerator with the support of the Rotary club who put up half the money for it.
The new fridge allows the food bank to accept more perishable goods than before and to provide healthier more nutritious options in the hampers.
“We’re allowed to go shopping at the Calgary Interfaith Food Bank. So we have some volunteers that once a month they go and pick up 30 dozen eggs,” said Oel, “and while we’re there, Calgary will say here take some yogurt, take this… and we were never in a position to take all the goodies.”
The new fridge allows the food bank to start accepting these free items from Calgary and still have room to store the harvest from the Food Bank’s gardens.
In the past, volunteers would be storing perishables at their homes and would have to rush to the food bank when clients came in.
“This fridge is fabulous,” said Oel,
“My house is now mine, I don’t share it with the food bank anymore.”
