As temperatures drop and the holidays approach, demand for Regina’s Food Bank is only rising.
The trend is cause for concern according to Chief Executive Officer of the Regina Food Bank, John Bailey.
"We're seeing not only more people using the food bank, we're also seeing the people who do use it more frequently than we had in previous years," he explained.
"It's going to be a challenge making sure that the people get what they are going to have a healthy diet," added Chrysta Garner, development coordinator at Carmichael Outreach.
- Download the CTV News app to get breaking news alerts from across Saskatchewan sent to your device
Another challenge is the decrease in food production as the gardening season has ended.
"We don't have enough, we definitely do not have enough," Garner said.
"That's a challenge, and so for us, it is about making sure we're meeting this increased demand," said Bailey.
According to the Food Banks Canada HungerCount Report for 2023 released on Wednesday, Saskatchewan saw 55,753 total visits out of 42 food banks reporting.
Of the total visits reported in the province, 22,193 were children. There was a 24.3 per cent increase in visits between 2022 and 2023, and a 49.8 per cent increase between 2019 and 2023 in Saskatchewan.
According to the report, there were nearly two million visits to Canadian food banks in just one month.
Since 2019, the number has increased by 78 per cent.
There was no big change in the number of volunteers or donations in the report, but there are new people willing to help the community.
"I am always looking for an opportunity to help someone, always help my community," said Anastasiia Biuk, a volunteer at the Regina Food Bank.
The Regina Food Bank is now running a fundraiser with the Mosaic Company to raise one million meals in the month of October.
With files from Caitlin Brezinski.
