The Salvation Army Food Banks in Smithers and Houston have seen increased foot traffic recently due to the increase in grocery prices.
According to Corps Officer Rick Apperson, inflation has also made purchasing items for the banks a challenge.
“We’ve found that as the cost of goods has gone up, obviously our purchasing power has been reduced quite a bit so we find it hard to get some of the same staples we’ve always used.”
He said Christmas was a good time for the bank thanks to the communities donating throughout the holiday season.
Their popular christmas kettle campaign brought in $50,000, according to Apperton this year’s campaign was much better than the last two of years.
“As we’re headed into March, we’re seeing a reduction in some of the items that are available.”
Because of the increased price in goods, he said the number of people using the banks has also gone up.
“We’re seeing new people who have never accessed before coming for the first time, and so that’s actually been happening quite a bit over the past few months. People reaching out saying ‘never used the food bank before, how do we do this.’”
To help offset the increase in prices, Apperton said that the Salvation Army has been looking into grants through Food Bank Canada and the United Way.
He added that you can help the banks by dropping items into donation boxes setup at local grocery stores.