Penticton food bank thinking outside the box
The Penticton Food bank was thinking outside-the-box this holiday season in order to meet growing demand.
"Because of supply chain issues, our Christmas hamper was a gift card and not groceries," said the Salvation Army's Alan Madsen. "We've had to become creative."
Madsen said they were handing out up to 20 Christmas hampers a day, plus up to 200 grab-and-goes.
"With the economy change this year, there's been a much larger demand."
Madsen said they're seeing a spike in single families and the working-poor who are struggling to make ends-meet.
"We're seeing an increase of people wanting to access us from that level. Whereas last year, they might have been able to purchase their food, but with the cost of groceries because of inflation, they've had to come to us to supplement their food so they can actually pay their bills."
Madsen adds that donations are down this year because regular donors are also struggling to put food on the table.
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