Central Okanagan Food Bank locations served a record number of residents over the Thanksgiving season, which included over 7,600 individuals in the past month.

(GEORGINA WHITEHOUSE / iNFOnews.ca)

Central Okanagan Food Bank locations served a record number of residents over the Thanksgiving season, which included over 7,600 individuals in the past month.

Trevor Moss, chief executive officer of the Central Okanagan Food Bank, told iNFOnews.ca today, Oct. 10, that's the highest number of clients the organization has ever served in its 41 years of operation. 

This, he said, is a result of the inflation crisis facing the Okanagan which is driving more and more residents to food banks including families, seniors on fixed incomes and even students.

“Before inflation hit big time, we would see around 55 per cent of our clients only need the food bank three or four times a year,” Moss said. “Unfortunately, people are having to use the food bank not three or four times now, but consistently monthly because they're not making it.”

The food bank has seen a 27% increase in clients since January 2023, Moss said. A rapidly growing group within those clients are families consisting of two working parents and two children.

Currently, over a third of the organization’s clientele are children under the age of sixteen, with the food bank supplying over 2,300 snack packs a month for local children.

Recently, two single moms and their three kids came to the food bank in desperate need, Moss said. Volunteers were able to provide them with essential products like milk, eggs, potatoes and carrots.

“They sent us pictures and letters saying thank you because it just helped feed their kids,” Moss said.

The organization has also seen an influx of clients from the recent wildfires.

The food bank was able to help people displaced by the wildfires, Moss said, but also people whose employment was disrupted.

“The other thing is that (the fires) displaced the tourism industry,” he said. “We were seeing a lot of people that came through (who worked in) hospitality, because they were out of work for three or four weeks.”

Moss said the picture is currently bleak, and the organization is not expecting the situation to change any time soon.

“Something's got to give somewhere,” he said. “We're advocating to provincial and federal governments to help people.

“It's a perfect storm that's being created and we don't see this pulling back at all in the next 12 to 15 months. We're actually anticipating higher numbers going into the Christmas season until interest rates are reduced and the cost of inflation goes down.”

Another marker of this crisis is the growing number of homeless clients served by the food bank this season, with the organization taking care of 30 to 40 homeless people a day in Kelowna alone.

“Right now, with inflation, we're in a crisis,” Moss said. “People are not making it day to day. We're glad we're able to be here for people and try to bridge that gap and we're also very thankful for the community that has so generously been giving.”

The community response, Moss said, has been overwhelming and a massive support in helping people over the thanksgiving period.

“The communities of West Kelowna and Kelowna we serve have been exceptional in their response,” he said. “Moving into Thanksgiving, we weren't certain how people were going to respond. But we actually did collect over 45,000 pounds of food… so that's huge for us. It helps put food on the table.”

Local people also contributed financially to the organization.

“For every dollar that they give us, we can provide $3 worth of food,” Moss said. “And that's where we'll buy the milk, the eggs, the potatoes, the carrots, you know, all those different things. And the baby supplies, the formula and the snack packs that we provide for kids.

“I would like to say is a heartfelt thank you to the community, to the corporations, to the school drives, to whether that one person has given that one can or that $5 or that $1,000. We're just so grateful in the midst of this Thanksgiving season. It's quite remarkable. And I just want to share it back that they are making a huge difference in a very, very difficult time for people.”

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