Use is up 8% from last year, says head of Calgary Food Bank

The head of the Calgary Food Bank says the need is greater than ever this holiday season.

James McAra says a lot of the people who rely on the food bank to put food on the table are the working poor, andthe demand for assistance this winteris unprecedented.

"I would love to say it's down," he said."Unfortunately it's up 8 per cent from last year, so we're soaring at heights we've never experienced before."

He said families, in particular, are struggling.

"Calgary and Alberta are creeping up in the fear of 'where is my next meal coming from?'Or 'what do Ihave in the kitchen?' Unfortunately you can look a child and say, 'the kids are being fed.' But that means that typically the parents are doing without," he said.

"You have to look at the whole family. And across everything that we've seen, it's a bigger and bigger concern all the time."

McArasays about 180,000 people use the food bank in Calgary each year.

CBC Calgary kicked off its annual food bank drive on Friday. Donations can be made in person at the CBCCalgary studios (1000 Veterans Place N.W.)or online.

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