More users, higher costs: Montreal-area food bank says donations critical as families battle inflation

Inflation and soaring food costs have many Quebec families feeling the pinch, and the head of one food bank says demand has increased by nearly 40 per cent in 2022.

According to Suzanne Scarrow, executive director of the West Island Mission (WIM), there's a struggle to keep up inventory.

"We’ve registered over 70 families since May alone," she told CTV News.

These days, the WIM is seeing more young families and a lot more seniors.

"Seniors are typically able to budget themselves very well based on their pension and fixed income, but now going into the grocery store, it’s a whole different story," Scarrow explained.

Cherry Dunn says she and her husband are barely making ends meet.

"I’m horrified at how fast everything is going up. I mean, just your normal, everyday stuff, like your eggs, your bread -- it’s prohibitively expensive," she said.

The average grocery bill is up nearly 11 per cent since last year. Bakery prices went up by more than 13 per cent, while the cost of edible fats and oils went up by nearly 28 per cent.

All of this means higher costs for food banks as well.

The WIM relies on food donations as well as its own produce from over 100 gardens. But some foods, like milk and eggs, are purchased by the organization.

"I would encourage people, when they're in the grocery store, to add a little extra in their basket if they're able to do that, or go online and donate," said Scarrow. "Cash over cans makes a huge difference, operations costs are just rising and we have to make sure we can keep the door open."

"If I had not had the food bank, we would have had to have left our home and gone into a shelter."