The Boundary Community Food Bank has asked the City of Grand Forks for support as it struggles to sustain operations amid growing community demand.
The organization has operated in the region for nearly four decades, but rising food costs and increasing need for services are straining its resources.
At this week’s Nov. 10 council meeting, president Janet Thorpe and board member Lynda Hynes outlined the scale of the organization’s work, citing increasing pressures from inflation, food costs and local economic challenges.
“For 37 years, the Boundary Food Bank has been serving our community. We provide many, many services,” said Thorpe.
These services include food recovery, food support and assistance to other non-profits delivering food in the region.
Rising need
The food bank supports residents from Christina Lake to Rock Creek, Bridesville and Beaverdell, serving about 350 households and 700 clients each month.
Thorpe said clients can access the food bank once a month for a week’s worth of groceries, but most visit infrequently – with only 10 per cent using the service monthly and 60 per cent visiting six times or fewer last year.
She said most people turn to the organization during times of hardship.
“We’re there to help our clients through difficult times. This time of year, heating bills often cut into their food budget. Other times, a car repair bill or a dental bill or something like that might cause them to come to the food bank,” explained Thorpe.
Reducing food waste
Beyond providing food support, Hynes noted that the food bank’s initiatives also keep a substantial amount of food out of local landfills.
Volunteers collect edible surplus food daily from Save-On-Foods, Tim Hortons, Canada Bread and the farmers market, diverting it from the landfill.
Last year, a total of 212,000 pounds of food was recovered, preventing 426,000 pounds of methane gas from being released into the atmosphere.
Inedible items are also recovered and shared with local farmers for animal feed, with a total of 13,000 pounds gathered last year.
The food bank also shares recovered food with nine other agencies in the region.
“Last year that was 20,000 pounds of food that we shared with those other agencies,” said Hynes.
Funding request
The organization requesting an $18,000 grant from the city. Of that, $13,300 would help maintain the employment of a part-time staff member hired last year to oversee the food bank’s day-to-day operations.
“This part-time employee works 20 hours a week, and so they’re at the food bank for 20 hours a week, which is more than most of our volunteers are there,” said Thorpe.
“This person has taken over the reporting, the record keeping and a lot of the day-to-day functions that volunteers were having to do on the sides of their desks.”
The $13,300 would cover only 38 per cent of the employee’s total wage, reflecting the percentage of Grand Forks residents who use the organization’s services.
“We will also ask for similar assistance from RDKB areas C, D and E, an amount commensurate with the number of clients living in their areas,” said Thorpe.
The remaining $4,700 would go toward food purchases for the growing number of individuals and families in need.
“The cost of food has gone up dramatically. And of course, our mill has suffered a closure right now, which is causing us to feel that there will be mill workers’ families who are coming to the food bank,” said Thorpe.
“We’re expecting our numbers to go up. And we’re also concerned that donations will be down as a result of the downtick in our economy.”
Shrinking donations
The organization expects to have served more than 8,200 people by the end of 2025 – a 72 per cent increase from 2020.
Thorpe added that most clients are families, children and seniors living in stable housing but struggling with affordability.
“One of the myths in Grand Forks is that we feed the homeless population. And that’s not accurate. We give our clients seven days’ worth of food, and homeless people can’t take that amount of food they can’t store it, they can’t probably cook it,” she said.
“We do contribute to feeding them because we share with the courtesy kitchen, the Stay Safe shelter and the transition house through our food recovery program. That’s how we feed the homeless people.”
While 90 per cent of the organization’s funding comes from community donations, Hynes noted that it may not be enough to fully offset rising costs this year.
“The community is extremely generous. Every year I’m blessed and amazed to see that we have enough funds to cover all of our expenses.
“But in this particular year, we’re a little more concerned about whether everybody’s going to feel a little more concerned about their jobs and that our donations may be lower.”
Council thanked the organization for its years of dedicated service, with Councillor Rod Zielinski noting it’s the first time the group has asked council for support.
“I’m actually surprised you haven’t come to this table before,” he said.
“The other reality is this is not a one-time request. Prices aren’t going down. Cost of labour is not going down. The need is not going down. So this is a long-term commitment, in my book.”
City staff will bring forward the funding request for council to vote on at a future meeting.
“I’m a big cheerleader for the food bank because I’ve seen it operate so, so well over these many, many years. So I thank you for coming and we’ll bring this forward to the regular meeting and hopefully have some encouraging news for you,” added Mayor Everett Baker.
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