The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
The Lord's Bounty Food Bank is coming off its busiest year ever and there's no sign the demand is waning. Over the past two months, usage of the food bank has increased 43 per cent compared to October and November of last year, while about 15 new clients have signed up. "Whether this is just a temporary thing, I have no idea," said Dennis Hydamaka, food distribution chairperson. During its latest fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, the food bank distributed 746 food hampers, more than any other year in its 12-year history. Hydamaka and his fellow volunteers now have about 160 client files, with the average file representing a family of three people. The clients represent a cross-section of people. Everyone from infants to teenagers to senior citizens rely on the food bank anywhere from once a year to twice every month. Not surprisingly, the vast majority Ñ some 80 per cent Ñ of adult clients claim social assistance, but the rest are working people who still have difficulty making ends meet. Despite an increased demand, Hydamaka may have some reason to be optimistic. Since the summer, about 10 clients have found jobs and now have less reliance on the food bank's services. "They used to come, at minimum, once a month and now we see them once every two or three months," he said. See 'Parking' P.# Con't from P.# Aside from meeting the demand, food bank volunteers have had parking meters on their minds. With the meters deactivated, they won't see revenue from the annual holiday campaign in which coins deposited in the meters for a period in December went to the food bank. That campaign typically brought in about $1,100 each year, a sizable amount of cash for any non-profit organization. "It could affect us but there are other initiatives going on that haven't been there in the past that might help us," said Hydamaka. "We'll get by without the parking meter money, one way or another. It seems that whenever we need, Flin Flon, Creighton and Denare Beach produce." Meanwhile, food bank clients and other residents in need are welcome to attend a complimentary turkey dinner at the First United Lutheran Church (20 Second Ave.) on Dec. 22 beginning at noon. The Lord's Bounty Food Bank is located at 86 Hapnot St. next to the Flin Flon RCMP station. The food bank is open for families every Tuesday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.; for couples and single people every Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.; and for soup kitchens every Monday and Wednesday from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
