Food Bank CEO hoping for continued generosity into 2021

If there’s any part of 2020 that people would like to see extended into the new year, it would be Regina residents’ giving ways.

This year, COVID-19 put scores of people out of work and left them searching for ways to feed themselves and their families.

The Regina Food Bank distributed a far higher number of hampers this year, roughly 60 per cent more, said CEO John Bailey.

“We look at a lot of things, be it the Christmas season or a vaccine rollout as a finish line, and for those of us working with those facing food insecurity it’s just another hurdle we need to get through, because hunger doesn’t stop and we need to keep that in mind,” Bailey told the Greg Morgan Morning Show on Monday.

“I’m hoping that real sense of community that has sort of come up as a byproduct of the pandemic continues through we continue to support each other as a province.”

COVID-19 meant that the food bank was not able to make use of its building.

As well, Bailey said when the pandemic struck, they needed to figure out how to keep feeding people with their supply chain with wholesalers and producers disrupted.

“That first half of 2020 was really just a lot of scrambling, if I’m going to be really honest about it,” he said.

Shutting down the food bank wasn’t an option so Bailey said they needed to change the way they distributed food.

“How do we set up systems that work for folks … be it a delivery service or a drive-thru or working more closely with other partner agencies throughout the city to make sure people are getting food in way that works for them.”

As difficult of a year it was for them, Bailey can only imagine what it was like for the food bank’s clients.

“When you’re facing a barrier like food insecurity, everything just gets magnified … that’s one of Maslow’s base-level needs,” he said. “(It) becomes a real struggle and add to that, like all the madness that comes with living through a pandemic.”