With lineups out the doors and food stored in three separate locations around town, the Squamish Food Bank needs a permanent home, its coordinator says.
Twice a month, up to 200 people head to the Alano Club on Third Avenue to get their hampers. With no space for privacy, programming or areas to service diverse nutrition needs, the non-profit charity is looking for an affordable facility to lease or buy.
It is sort of stopping us from doing more, Christina Rupp said of the current facility.
The food bank is forced to keep its donated products in three facilities around the community because of inadequate space and storage. The food must be hauled to the Alano Club on distribution days and the remainder shuttled back to storage at the day's end.
The organization is dealing with a growing number of families, Rupp noted. Hitting mid-summer, food bank organizers are faced with bare shelves.
The bins in the grocery stores are pretty much non-existent. We are very low on the basics, Rupp said.
People are eager to donate items during the Christmas months, food bank director Heidi Nielsen said. Starting on Saturday (July 20) and running through to the end of Sunday (July 21), the organization is hosting its Christmas in July food drive. Volunteers will be outside three stores Nesters, Save On Foods and Extra Foods collecting cash and food donations. The campaign aims to encourage shoppers to purchase a bag of groceries for the food bank. Pearl's Value and Vintage is also jumping in on the action, offering 10 per cent off the secondhand charity store's items if the buyer hands in canned food.
The food bank relies heavily on donations, as it receives no provincial or federal funding, Nielsen noted. The organization's board has a core group of devoted volunteers and hopes to streamline its services with newly hired Rupp at the helm, she added. The charity is always on the hunt for more volunteers.
For more information about the charity or the fundraiser visit www.squamishfoodbank.com.
