Food bank readying to help evacuees from flood ravaged communities

• Over 1,000 people in Kelowna following natural disasters
• Need for food bank assistance continues to rise
• Community supports need help

The Central Okanagan Food Bank is standing at the ready to assist evacuees displaced by the flooding in Merritt and other communities.

The organization is working closely with Emergency Support Services (ESS) and other organizations to make sure food and supplies makes it to those in need.

“Once the support services end with emergency services then we can step in and help anyone requiring food,” Tammie Watson, chief development officer with the Central Okanagan Food Bank told Kelowna10.

Over 1,000 evacuees have come to Kelowna for help after an atmospheric river swamped southern British Columbia earlier this week, devastating low lying communities and causing catastrophic damage to major highways.

Anyone with food insecurity, whether they live in the area or were evacuated, is encouraged to reach out to the Central Okanagan Food Bank for support by calling 250-763-7161 and visiting their website.

Each day they send out about 21,000 lbs of food from their warehouse.

While it’s difficult to predict timeframes, Watson expects this problem will take time to solve.

“If we take a look at the pictures in the news and see the devastation that actually happened in the Merritt area, I have a hard time thinking people are going home anytime soon,” Watson said.

“I think there’s a really good possibility that we will have some folks evacuated and staying here for the next few weeks if not longer; into the months.”

This comes at a challenging time for the food bank, which has already seen a surge in demand since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and summer wildfires.

The holidays are usually one of the busiest times of the year for the food bank. Before this week, they already anticipated a 19 per cent increase in demand for their food hamper program.

That, coupled with recent evacuees, they expect numbers to bump up even more.

There are a few ways to for the community to help the food bank. Those interested can drop off non-perishable food. There’s also volunteering time at the warehouse, preparing food hampers to go out.

A powerful way to help is to donate online. Monetary donations go a long way because of their buying power and the close relationships they have with grocery stores and local growers.