Surrey Food Bank seeing new crowd due to power outages
Posted August 31, 2015 11:54 pm.
Last Updated September 1, 2015 11:18 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Some of you may have had to empty out your fridge and throw it out thanks to days without power. There are some people living in Surrey, which is one of the hardest hit communities hit by the weekend’s powerful windstorm, who can’t afford groceries.
Marilyn Hermann with the Surrey Food Bank says she’s seeing a lot of new faces.
“Many were families who just don’t have access to be able to refill their fridges because they’ve lost everything and have never come to the food bank before.”
She says some of these families aren’t considered low-income but just need the help temporarily.
“You go out and you buy your groceries $200 and $300 worth of groceries sometimes, or even $100 and you put it in your fridge and they just don’t have the money right now to replenish what they’ve lost.”
Although the organization which still has no power has its own challenges, being forced to dump out multiple coolers full of perishable items and scrambling to get supplies, she says it’s doing everything it can to feed those in need and won’t be turning anyone away.
With the food bank serving roughly 250 people every day, she says she’s not sure what to expect for the rest of the week.
“We don’t know. We’re holding our breath. I was just on the phone with our logistics manager and we’re looking at bringing in a reefer truck (refrigerated truck unit) that we can put our freezer product into tomorrow if we are still not up.”
She’s been in contact with local politicians for support to be better prepared for emergencies.
“We need to put a plan in place for the future and knowing that we are an essential service and people turn to us when they don’t know when to turn to.”
The food bank is still taking donations of non-perishable food as well as encouraging people to donate online or at participating stores.
