The Bulkley Valley Salvation Army says it has noticed an increase in residents using its services as costs of food continues to increase.
According to Corps Officer Lt. Rick Apperson, the usage for its services has doubled from what they use to experience.
He said that even in December they were starting to see increases in its programs.
“In Houston, our Christmas hamper program has doubled from what it was five years ago. When I left to do some more training with the army we were having about 100-110 users of the Christmas program, now it’s 200 plus,” Apperson said.
He added that the higher inflation rates have also impacted the amount of donations that are received and how they get food.
Even the food that gets purchased for the food bank there is not as much available.
He said as of right now they are in need of a bit of everything.
“We need fruit, we need canned meats, canned vegetables, tomato sauce and cereals just basically everything.. Everything we put into our food hampers is lacking at this moment,” Apperson said.
According to Apperson, he has heard from the community that residents are having to make choices about what or what not to purchase.
He says while donations have decreased the community continues to be generous.
“They are giving what they have, it may be a little less because everybody is reaching limits but they’re still giving generously and so, we appreciate that very much,” Apperson said.
Stats Canada has reported that the Consumer Price Index is at 7.6 percent.