As demand grows, even this food bank staffer says she was naive about the extent of the problem

When Kaitlin Clarke started working for the Carbonear food bank, she says, she cried after talking to her first client — a homeless person who'd just had their first turkey meal in two decades.

Clarke says she wasn't aware of just how prevalent the need was in the area.

"I was very naive to the struggles that are in our community," said Clarke, communications co-ordinator for the Saint Vincent de Paul Carbonear Food Bank.

"One of the things that we always say is everybody is a missed paycheque away from having to visit a food bank."

In the four years she's been there, she's heard many stories.

Someone loses a family member and the emotional hit and loss of income, coupled with the cost of a funeral, means they suddenly can't afford to put food on the table. Someone is forced out of a job because of an injury. Someone's bank account is closed because they can't afford the bank's fees.

This year has been especially difficult in the food bank, she says.

"People that once might have been donors are now the ones that are asking for help."

WATCH | It hasn't slowed down at the Saint Vincent de Paul Carbonear Food Bank:

People who once donated to the food bank in Carbonear now need it, says co-ordinator

5 months ago

Duration 1:34

Kaitlin Clarke says it’s been the toughest year yet for the Saint Vincent de Paul Carbonear Food Bank. The communicators co-ordinator admits she was “naive” to the struggles in the town and tells the CBC’s Darrell Roberts that people are not as far away from needing help as they might think.

In the food bank's stock room, food is shelved neatly, filling the shelves from the bottom all the way to the ceiling. But it will only last a week.

The food bank serves as many as 700 individuals across the Trinity Bay region. When she started, Clarke said, she would see one or two new faces visiting the food bank once a week. Now it's one or two a day. 

Like so many other food banks across Newfoundland and Labrador, they need more donations — especially now, as donations typically dwindle during the summer.

At the McSheffrey Resource Centre in St. John's, it's a similar story, says Alison Hollahan, food bank co-ordinator for the East End Food Bank Coalition.

"Some days we could have nothing and some weeks we could also have three or four different organizations coming and donating," said Hollahan, who's responsible for three food banks in the city.

"We're seeing a lot of people choosing between paying rent or buying groceries."

Food hampers are supposed to be a "Band-Aid" solution, she said — a quick fix for when a paycheque is late or stretched by unexpected expenses.

"But now we're noticing that more and more people are relying on these hampers for the entire month."

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