ST. ALBERT - Unprecedented demand at St. Albert's food bank for the past two years shows no signs of slowing down in 2023, as the number of food hampers supplied by the organization has risen by as much as 38 per cent year-over-year.
Food bank executive director Suzan Krecsy said 522 hampers were distributed to local families in May 2023, serving 1,562 individuals. In May 2022, the food bank distributed 379 hampers.
Last month the food bank distributed another 511 food hampers, 95 more than in June 2022.
“That was a little bit better, but still almost 100 more,” Krecsy said. “That's been what's happening since the beginning of the year.”
“Every month this year we're serving 100 families more than we were at the same time last year.”
To keep up with the ever-increasing need, Krecsy said the food bank has spent over $100,000 on food so far this year, as the demand has well outpaced donations. Krecsy said the food bank had to spend about $50,000 all of last year to keep up.
“We're just keeping our heads above water right now,” she said. “We're putting out around anywhere between 63,000 and 75,000 pounds of food every month.
“It's really scary; we have just a hair under 1,400 families on file at the food bank right now.”
Increasing rental costs
Krecsy said one reason for the higher demand is increasing rental costs.
“Our families are coming in and saying their rent is being increased by $300 a month,” she said. “The other unsettling part is, in May, 66 per cent of the families that came in were paying more than 50 per cent of their income on rent, so they're all precariously housed.
“People are one calamity away from being homeless.”
The Gazette reached out to six companies that own and operate apartment buildings in St. Albert for information about rent increases this year; however, just two responded, and neither shared exact figures.
“With rising costs in interest rates, huge capital investments in our properties to maintain and improve, inflationary costs, the housing crisis across all of Canada and its lack of supply is pushing housing and rentals higher,” said Dwayne Harper, a community director for Boardwalk REIT, the company that owns the Sturgeon Point Villas apartment complex near the mall.
“While there has been a modest rental rate increase in 2023, it has been less than the operating cost increases faced by property owners as a result of exceptionally high inflation, increased natural gas/electricity costs, and other increased operating costs,” said Mark Hale, the senior vice-president of construction and property standards for Realstar, the company that owns Giroux Estates on Vandelor Road.
According to Rentals.ca's monthly rent report for July, which presents data collected from listings on the aggregator's website only, the average rental price of a one bedroom apartment in Edmonton ($1,196) is up 11.5 per cent this month compared to the same time last year. As well, the average price ($1,505) of a two bedroom apartment in Edmonton has increased by 14.5 per cent year-over-year, the report shows. The rental report doesn't include St. Albert-specific data.
Krecsy noted Edmonton used to have reliably cheaper rental options compared to St. Albert.
“It used to be that Edmonton had less-expensive rents, but that's not the case anymore,” she said. “A few years ago you could get some pretty smoking good deals in Edmonton, but not anymore.”
On Zumper, another rental listing aggregate website, the average price of one-bedroom apartments in St. Albert is $1,488, while two-bedroom apartments have an average listing price of $1,570.
Upcoming food drive
The St. Albert Food Bank and Community Village's annual food drive is scheduled for Sept. 16. Each year the food bank delivers food bags to individual homes in the hope residents will fill the bags for volunteers to pick up.
“It's going to be the most important food drive we've ever had, and I thought last year's was,” Krecsy said. “We're really looking to have as much as possible come in.”
“St. Albert is so responsive and everybody tries, but we understand that donors are feeling the pinch too.”
Krecsy said the food bank plans to deliver 23,000 food drive bags leading up to Sept. 16, and anybody who is interested in volunteering to deliver bags or pick bags up on the day should contact volunteer coordinator Doug Webster by sending an email to [email protected].
“I think people are going to be shocked when Food Banks Canada reveals their numbers,” Krecsy said, referring to an annual report Food Banks Canada publishes that breaks down national demand for services.
Food Banks Canada's 2022 report was titled HungerCount 2022: From a Storm to a Hurricane. This year's report will likely be published sometime this fall.
