Food bank manager 'ecstatic' over Feed a Family campaign's success
CBC
Upper Room Food Bank CEO Mike MacDonald is thrilled with the final results of CBC P.E.I's Feed a Family campaign, despite tempered expectations due to inflation and a volatile labour market.
The latest campaign raised more that $87,000, along with about 3,300 turkeys.
That's short of what typically would have been raised in pre-pandemic campaigns, when Feed a Family could bring in 3,500 turkeys and closer to $100,000, but MacDonald said these are different times.
"I don't think you can compare what's happening today with what happened three to five years ago. We're just ecstatic with the result," he said.
"We're extremely happy with how things turned out. We know this year's been a struggle for a lot of people, people turning to food banks but also donors as well. We couldn't be happier."
Inflation on P.E.I. has been the highest in the country for almost two years. The annual rate climbed over 10 per cent in June, and has remained above eight per cent since.
Traffic at food banks on the Island was up 20 to 40 per cent last year, said MacDonald.
And he doesn't expect to see that trend changing in the early months of 2023. While demand is up and resources are stretched, he emphasized that food banks are there to help, and he encouraged anyone needing assistance to get in touch.
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