A food bank in Black Creek, north of Courtenay, says it’s facing a critical shortage of food as it approaches the Christmas season.
The Bread of Life Food bank has been helping local people for eight years.
“You can’t expect people who are living out here on limited incomes without transportation to go to a food bank in Courtenay or Campbell River, they’re not going to get there,” said foodbank volunteer Heather Schroeder.
The food bank’s fridges are only half full and there are only a few small crates full of dry and canned food in a storage room where it operates out of a church basement.
“This is our stock for weekly food as well as Christmas hamper food,” said Chad Hooker, who runs the food bank.
Thrifty Foods in Courtenay donates a lot of food but the Courtenay food bank is no longer a partner so the Bread of Life is on its own.
“We definitely need more,” added Hooker. “We need freezers and fridges to store some of that food but right now our stock is low. We’ve not seen it this tight.”
The food bank is open every Tuesday morning and serves mostly the working poor, people on disability and seniors.
“There’s a rental crisis out there. There’s no place to really live. A lot of our seniors that access our food bank or those on disability are living out of motor homes, campers, trailers,” said Hooker.
The Bread of Life Foodbank can be reached at 250-218-0681
More information can be found here.
Dean Stoltz
