Food Banks of Saskatchewan (FBS) is the provincial association of food banks working together to build, support and strengthen relationships with the community to better serve and advocate on behalf of hungry and food insecure people across Saskatchewan. There are 32 food banks across Saskatchewan, reaching every part of the province. In 2019, FBS served 37,216 unique users.
We launched the Food Banks of Saskatchewan Crisis Response Fund provincial campaign on April 2 and believe that the Government of Saskatchewan should support this campaign. Currently, most of our food banks have a 10-14-day supply, with food donations steeply dropping off. Over 2,000 volunteer hours scheduled over the next month have been cancelled across the province, putting considerable strain on remaining staff and requiring extra resources to manage logistics.
We continue to see increases in the number of Canadian’s affected by job lay-offs or decreased hours. Nearly 21,000 jobs were lost in Saskatchewan in March and we anticipate that number to increase in April. Nearly 37 per cent of Canadians who have experienced job loss in their household say they are not equipped to handle even an extra $100 expense in the next 30 days. As a result, we anticipate many of these people turning to their local food bank for help.
The majority of the people facing layoffs work in the service sector, as much of the service sector has been shut down. Wages in the service sector are lower than the average wage with a typical annual income between $25,000-40,000. When these workers are limited to an EI payment of 55 per cent of their wage, they will have a hard time affording their basic needs as much of their income will go to rent. They are also less likely to have a safety net or financial cushion built up to help weather this storm.
FBS requires additional resources to continue serving the community while protecting staff, volunteers and their clients. We anticipate at least a 25 per cent increase in the number of users as a result of the COVID-19 State of Emergency. Most of our food banks have seen a 5-15 per cent increase to date, however some food banks such as Regina and Melfort have seen an astounding increase of 40-50 per cent already. While the number of users will increase, the amount of food donated and the number of volunteers available will decrease as people choose to stockpile food and follow provincial government’s direction to stay home.
Our Phase 1 campaign goal is to raise $6M to address the immediate need, with the future goal of securing $10M for ongoing needs to meet increased needs in months to follow. Approximately $2M has been raised to date, not including the federal government contribution.
Saskatchewan food banks are executing plans to respond to the impact of COVID-19. Right now, our food bank needs significant monetary donations for food (bulk purchasing power on urgently needed items), deliveries of food hampers to maintain safe distancing guidelines and staff to coordinate efforts.
In consideration of our ask, we have reviewed what our neighbours are receiving: Alberta: $60M fund for agencies providing frontline services to vulnerable populations ($30M immediately to shelters, remaining $30M will be provided through grants administered by Family and Community Support Services).British Columbia: $3M emergency funding to food banks. Newfoundland: $500,000 to food banks. Nova Scotia: $1M to food banks. Ontario: $200M in social services funding was launched, with $8M to food banks in first month. Prince Edward Island: $500,000 in relief for NGO’s including food banks. Quebec: $2M to food banks.
The Government of Canada’s COVID-19 Economic Response included $50M for food banks. However, this is being divided among over 700 food banks across the country. Saskatchewan will likely receive about 3 per cent of this total, but it is still unclear when or how that will be paid out.
Food Banks of Saskatchewan have and will continue to operate without core funding from the Saskatchewan government. The funding we are requesting is specifically to address the COVID-19 crisis that we are experiencing. Recognizing that other social service organizations are already operating at capacity, an influx of funding to provide food will ease the burden of many.
We requested a contribution from the Government of Saskatchewan in late March. We still have not heard a decision on this request, or seen any support for charities from the provincial government. We are asking for the Opposition to show their support for this request and further encourage the Government of Saskatchewan to support the Food Banks of Saskatchewan.
