SURREY (NEWS1130) – Food banks are always struggling to feed the growing number of people of all ages in need.

Fewer young people all over the province have to use their local food bank province wide but that’s not the case in Surrey, according to Surrey Food Bank Executive Director Marilyn Herrmann.     

“The provincial average used to be about 41 per cent of food bank users were children and babies, in some communities that  number has dropped drastically provincially; it’s dropped to 29 per cent. But here in Surrey, that number is 41 per cent,” explains Herrmann.
    
The Surrey Food Bank serves 150 thousand people and 250 of them are babies.  

“What I can say is that we are a very young community. Look at our school population alone and we’ve put a focus on making sure that particular babies receive a full week of nutrition,” says Herrmann.

She says with the growth in families, that will only mean a greater demand for things like baby formula which is very costly.  
    
“Formula is not cheap. We purchase $10,000-worth of baby formula every six to eight weeks. We spend over $180,000 to make sure the little one gets the nutrition needed,” she tells us, adding a $25 donation is a week’s worth of formula for one baby.

The Surrey Food Bank launches its Christmas fundraising campaign on Saturday.