The president of the Terrace Church’s Food Bank discussed some of the trends he’s been seeing throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and the holiday season. Paul Moravec says that even though the food bank has seen an increase in donations during the pandemic, there’s also been nearly double the number of people accessing the food bank in 2022.
According to Moravec, the number of families accessing the food bank has gone up from approximately 300 people per month to 600 per month.
Moravec says that part of the reason for this increase could be due to their location change that happened in February. The food bank had previously been located in the basement of Dairy Queen on Park Avenue and is now located in the old Shell Gas Station building on Kalum street where it is much more visible and accessible.
Terrace Church’s Food Bank was first established in 1990 by the variety of churches in Terrace, but Moravec says that now churches only make up about 5-10 percent of total donations.
Moravec says that this could be due to an increase in support from the general public, which makes up about 90 percent of total donations. The public also makes up 40 to 45 volunteers they see each month.
Community involvement has also gone up this past holiday season according to Moravec. A nearly 500-pound donation was made by the Centennial Christian School ahead of Thanksgiving, and the Terrace RCMP’s annual Cram-A-Cruiser event happening this weekend which will see three RCMP cruisers being filled with food donations.
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