Most local food banks closed for holidays, but need doesn't stop

The Brunswick Street Mission is one of the few food banks open in the Halifax area this week, and its staff and volunteers say there's barely enough goods to go around. 

Lisa Harrison, the organization's executive director, said it's been a challenge to keep the shelves stocked due to "extreme need."

She said people were lined up outside the building for more than two hours before the food bank opened on Wednesday morning.

"People are presenting more and more desperate," said Harrison. "The time that people are spending on the streets, and in tents, is really starting to wear them down." 

Brunswick Street's main supplier is Feed Nova Scotia, which delivers three to four pallets of food per week to the group. But Feed Nova Scotia is closed until the new year, taking a "short and much-deserved break," said Harrison. 

This means that she and her team must try to get by on their own, which is proving to be harder than anticipated this year. 

Janet, who's asked that her last name be left out for privacy reasons, has been volunteering with the Brunswick Street Mission for 10 years. She said she's never seen the situation so dire. 

"The number of families that we're serving is doubling almost every couple months," she said. "I don't think we will have enough food." 

Halifax's Parker Street Food Bank closed its doors temporarily on Dec. 22 after handing out nearly 1,000 food hampers for Christmas.

It's set to reopen on Jan. 2, but staff are on site processing donations and sorting food. 

Denise Daley, Parker Street's executive director, said up to 50 people per day are still showing up in need of something to eat, even though the facility is closed to the public for the holiday season. 

She said her team is doing its best to ensure no one leaves empty-handed. 

Accepting donations

"[Parker Street] is their hope," she said. "This is their neighbour that they can count on.

"We just ask them to be patient with us as we do our food sorting, and be patient with other community members as they also try to obtain food that's available."

The Brunswick Street Mission and Parker Street Food Bank are both accepting food donations from the public at this time.  

Harrison said milk, eggs, peanut butter, tomato sauce, pasta, rice and instant coffee are always in demand.

"We're hoping that people, after Christmas, will now have a bit of extra they can give because we do actually really need help from food donations at this point in our cycle," she said.