Emily Bielby (right), The Food Bank Society staff member helps to hand out supplies to college students who need a little extra support in getting food to their table.
Pop-up food banks are now showing up around Lethbridge providing the community with access to free food.
One of Lethbridge Food Bank’s priorities is the Pop-up food bank. This is where a vehicle that carries donated food which routinely visits various nieghbourhoods.
This mobile food support service aims to give the community members access to everyone who needs extra food at their table. A once-a-week schedule posted on its website announces its activities for the month. And one of their venues is the post secondary institutions.
Now, fall marks the start of a new school year for all learners. Records from Lethbridge College’s Compliance office show the number of enrollees had increases of 30 per cent this fall 2023 from last year’s statistics. Both domestic and international have 5,014 confirmed enrolled students. With a 3.7 per cent inflation rate from last year, students could be struggling to manage their finances. Lethbridge Food Bank has produced an initiative to provide students at the university, college, and the community with the nutrition they need during their studies.
Completing their leg for the fall’s first month, Lethbridge College was visited in late September. On a Thursday afternoon at 3:55 p.m., minutes before the time of distribution, students, and several community residents slowly gathered to fall in line waiting for the Food Bank truck to arrive.
With their empty bags and small carts which they prepared where they will use to carry all the goods they could bring home. As the food truck arrived, food bank staff immediately prepared all the groceries and products they brought. Emily Beilby, a mobile food truck staff member says they have been doing this for two years now, and it has been a year for the college since they started distributing food supplies.
“I like to come to this one because it is quick and everybody gets what they need. I hope. I hope it has picked up a lot since we started. It feels like we are serving the most of them are internationals, yes. It is great they get what they need and well, I mean they get some of what they need, right, because we do not really supply meat, but we try to do our best,” Beilby said.
Aiziel Navarro, a first-year student in the business management program, had been waiting for 45 minutes in the college lobby after she was notified by a friend that there was a food truck coming with free food. She prepared herself with a small bag taking her chances grabbing some free goodies. As an international student, she only gets a limited number of working hours because of her school schedule and being alone here in Canada, for her, this step means a lot.
“It will help me with my food budget and I think this will last for days. This will save some extra cash and time going to the grocery store, especially if you do not have a vehicle. I hope this Pop-up Foodbank will be a weekly routine; that would be great help, I think, for us international students,” Navarro said.
With more registered members of Lethbridge community accessing its free food service, the Food Bank Society is now servicing more than 1,500 clients every month.
They gave out 5,020 hampers throughout 2022. A local resident who prefers to be called Pauline, is one of the service’s recipients that day. She has no children, but she is taking care of three adults at home.
“It is always in my schedule. Well, I make no money. I make no income, so it helps a lot,” Pauline said.
The Food Bank’s staff was a bit surprised when the supply was all distributed so soon.
“Today we have quite a bit, I would like to give them more, but I will just bring what I have at work. Right now, it is not enough sometimes, it is, but it seems to be picking up, so we need to start packing for more people,” Beilby said.
The Food Bank Society’s Pop-up Food Service will continue its usual schedule until winter comes, then their distribution will be twice a week.