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."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Western University researchers unlock potential 'cure' for ALS
New research out of London, Ont.'s Western University is shedding light on a potential cure for ALS, in which the targeting of the interaction between two proteins can halt or fully reverse the disease's progression.
What Michael Cohen said on the stand in Trump hush money case
The star prosecution witness in Donald Trump's hush money trial took the stand Monday with testimony that could help shape the outcome of the first criminal case against an American president.
Collapsed Baltimore bridge span comes down with a boom after crews set off chain of explosives
Crews conducted a controlled demolition Monday to break down the largest remaining span of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.
Police release 3D images of young child found in an Ontario river two years ago
Police have released a three-dimensional image of a young child whose remains were discovered in the Grand River in Dunnville, Ont. almost two years ago.
Kamala Harris drops F-bomb during White House live-stream
U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris used a profanity on Monday while offering advice to young Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders about how to break through barriers.
Behind the barricades: How protesters spend their first days in a new encampment
Students in Montreal describe life in a newly erected encampment in Montreal as a whirlwind of preparations, from facing rain and a potential police crackdown to setting up a space for the exchange of ideas.
Security video caught admitted serial killer disposing of bodies in Winnipeg garbage bins
Security video caught admitted serial killer Jeremy Skibicki on multiple late-night outings, disposing of body parts in nearby garbage bins and dumpsters in the middle of the night.
Next 48 hours will be 'extremely challenging' for B.C. wildfire crews near Fort Nelson: officials
A wildfire burning dangerously close to Fort Nelson, B.C., has grown to more than 50 square kilometres, and officials are warning that the blaze's behaviour is expected to become more volatile over the next 48 hours.
Southern Ont. man charged with attempted murder in Timmins shooting
One of two men wanted for attempted murder in Timmins has been arrested, while a warrant has been issued for a second suspect, who fled police on foot.