ISHMAEL N. DARO
Web Editor

It appears that Saskatchewan has not completely escaped the effects of the recession, as the Saskatoon Food Bank has seen use of its services increase by 20 per cent from 2009 to 2010.

Food bank CEO Paul Merriman says that although Saskatchewan weathered the recession better than anybody else, “we’re still getting the trickle-down or the ripple effect from the recession.”

Other factors have also contributed to residents being affected by the recession. Increases in rent, utility bills and food costs have pushed many to seek help from food banks.

A staggering 44 per cent of food bank recipients in the province are children, a number only surpassed in Manitoba and the Territories. In fact, food bank use is at an all-time high across Canada, according to HungerCount 2010 — a report released this month by Food Banks Canada. Nearly 900,000 Canadians — over half of which are on some form of social assistance — sought the help of food banks last year.

The Saskatoon food bank has a holiday goal of fundraising $350,000 and “foodraising” 350,000 lbs of food as part of its Tree of Plenty campaign, which ends Dec. 25. Merriman says meeting these goals is important during the holidays when people are more likely to give.

“The bad news is January, February and March of next year,” he said. “We’re still seeing the same number of people, but the donations — both food and fundraising — seem to drop off after Christmas time.”

Merriman noted that the food bank also serves students.

“Sometimes we do give food to the general community, but we are a lot of the times giving it right back to some of the students who don’t have enough to make it through the semesters.”

For more information, visit saskatoonfoodbank.org, where donations can be made via credit card or PayPal, or call 664-6565 to make a donation over the phone.