Hampers of Hope campaign underway in Queen City

Regina’s Food Bank has launched their annual Hampers of Hope Campaign ahead of the holiday season.

Steve Compton, the food bank’s CEO, said they’re ready for a busy December. He said every year they put together hampers full of fresh, “good for you foods,” that can create a few holiday meals.

This year the food bank is preparing to make 2,000 hampers.

“(That’s) more than last year. We saw our usage increase a bit this year, and hopefully the generosity of the community is going to help us meet that challenge again this year,” Compton said.

The increase in usage is due to a number of reasons like the cost of living going up, wages not keeping pace with the cost of living, rent going up and people being on disability or a fixed income.

“We’re seeing people that are facing challenges or short term challenges too. If there was a change in the household, change in employment, sudden illness, there’s a lot of reasons that people reach out to us,” Compton said.

Around this time of year, the question of “what kind of donation is best” is often asked. Compton said while both food and financial donations are great, the food bank can make a buck stretch a little further.

“We have some partnerships with some people in the food industry where if you donate what you would normally spend at the grocery store we can stretch that out and get more for the money that you do give us,” he explained.

Each hamper that goes out is roughly $75 in value.

“The idea is that, at this time of year when services and supports might not be readily available, that there’s going to be food on the table during that time period,” Compton said.

There is also a virtual campaign on the food bank’s website. You can go to the site and click on different items you’d like to donate to the food bank.