Rising food costs affecting Brandon programs
Inflation continues to increase the cost of living throughout Manitoba, and food prices are no exception.
Recent reporting from Statistics Canada show a nearly 10 percent increase in the cost of grocery items in July compared to the same time last year.
“We see groceries not lasting a month, but lasting almost only two weeks, sometimes a little less than,” says Mia Bastien, director of development and operations for The Women’s Resource Centre in Brandon. They have a breakfast program that provides meals to roughly 500 women and children in need each month.
But even with funding through grants, they need more help.
“When we write grants, we’re not anticipating the sharp increase or the trends and patterns, and that’s what we’re running into,” she says. “So that call to the community is a reflection of what we’re feeling and the trends we’re experiencing.”
Another group feeling financial strain is Brandon’s Food for Thought, which runs the Brandon School Division’s breakfast and snack programs, supporting 19 schools between Brandon and Shilo.
“This past year we fed over 132,000 students in those programs”, says Angie Strachan, Food for Thought’s program coordinator. “That is double the number of students the year before. And of course a big contributing factor to that is the food cost.”
“We appreciate their ability to help our students have access to nutrition and food on a daily basis,” says Brandon School Division superintendent Mathew Gustafson, adding that the partnership between BSD and Food for Thought is “very valuable.”
The rising cost of food leaves both groups calling on the community to help their programs operate.
“All of our donations are either monetary or food donations,” says Strachan, “so we rely on businesses, corporations, and individual donations.”
More information on how to donate to either organization can be found on their websites, thewomenscentrebrandon.com and brandonsfoodforthought.com.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.