With the recent announcement of the provincial government donating $10 million over two years to help Alberta Food Banks, the initial reaction from the Airdrie Food Bank is that they are ecstatic to receive some help.

Meghan West, the Programs Manager at the Food Bank, mentioned that even though they are happy to see the donations, they are still unsure how it will specifically help the Airdrie Food Bank.

"We don't know yet how it will be rolled out, and what the kind of on-the-ground impact will look like for us here. What we do know is that government support of this kind is an anomaly in the food banking world."

West mentioned the best way she can think of to receive the help is to just receive their portion of funding so they can make the decisions on what it should be used for. It would help them be a lot more flexible when it comes to items that are needed more than others.

"I think that funding provides a lot of flexibility when it can be used to purchase our most needed items like milk, cheese, and eggs as needed. We have a record number of families accessing support through our referral program with the health unit for baby formula. That is what I think would be most helpful in terms of what we're seeing right now."

Like most food banks, Airdrie's still needs help when it comes to donations.

"We have seen, you know, a 48 per cent increase year over year in access to our hamper program, most recently reflected in our October numbers."

Luckily our food bank has many food recovery partnerships that have grown and expanded as they have seen a decrease in community donations. 

"We feel well positioned to meet the need this holiday season. A big part of that is every school food drive every small business, anytime someone donates at the local grocery store. It is that consistent care that our community provides to us that makes us confident that we can continue to meet the needs."

To see the most needed items at the Airdrie Foodbank, visit their WEBSITE.

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