The Salvation Army could use a boost of donations to their food bank stores in Chilliwack.
They recently had to purchase $15,000 worth of food, to continue serving the hungry and homeless from their food bank and soup kitchen operations.
The late summer purchase is somewhat unusual because typically they have enough food donations to coast through.
“We just got hit really hard and what hit us was summertime,” said Don Armstrong, food bank manager for the Salvation Army. “All the lunch programs in the school take a break like Bowls of Hope.”
So more folk than usual rely on the soup kitchen, and numbers have been skyrocketing.
They’re serving up to 200 people a day, and the food bank is feeding about 50 to 75 people.
“This time two years ago we serving less than half that,” Armstrong said.
“So the need has almost doubled, and in part it’s because we have more homeless people.”
Sally Ann’s 60-bed shelter has added to the lineups, as well as the general influx into the community.
What really helps is when folks purchase those $2 coupons that are scanned at grocery stores, and added to the bills.
“All the money from those stays in Chilliwack,” he said. “We get it all.”
READ MORE: New program diverting unsold food to the hungry
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