Wilkie Food Bank reminds residents that their needs are year-round

WILKIE — Imagine having to make choices on what bills to pay for your family and having to wonder how you will feed them during these trying economic times.

Wilkie’s Food Bank is giving residents a reminder that donations to their charitable organization need to continue year-round, not just at Christmas, when they receive the most donations.

“We run mostly on monetary donations,” committee member, Andria Gutting, says.

“We are looking into having a couple of bins downtown for food drop offs soon. We have a team of great shoppers that get the groceries when families call. The food store staff are always looking for sales and making donations stretch as far as they can with these purchases.”

Families that are in need of the food bank need help all year long. Donations can be sent at any time. The drop-off bins for food collections will help, says a Wilkie Food Bank representative.

Community donations can be given to any Wilkie Food Bank member, dropped off at the town office or mailed to Box 295, Wilkie. Tax receipts are available by request, for donations $25 and over, and the town office can advise how to write that cheque.

“We have many families who utilize our small food bank,” Gutting adds.

“We are not a registered food bank because of the start up costs. We are always very appreciative of any donation made to our families we help.”

Gutting also notes the group’s appreciation of the co-operation of the Wilkie and District Health Foundation for their help in generating receipts on their behalf.”

Wilkie Food Bank volunteers are committed to confidentiality, as well as shopping for and delivering groceries to families in need. Wilkie’s committee includes Nicole Kobelsky, Mandy Klein and Adriana Karstens along with Gutting.

“People should look for the bins that will be set out soon and know that every little bit helps. We live in a wonderful community that thinks of their less fortunate community members ... people need help for many different reasons, and we are so blessed to be able to help them when we can,” says Gutting.

In a recent SASKTODAY.ca story, it was noted that inflation and the state of the economy has had a big impact on community food banks. Unity Food Bank committee said they are busier now than they were during COVID.

Now more than ever, residents are reminded of their community’s Food Bank needs and that every donation, regardless of size, helps someone in need.