Sioux Lookout Food Bank in need of community support

Tim Brody - Editor

The Sioux Lookout Food Bank is looking for the community’s support.
A year ago, three local churches, Cornerstone Christian Fellowship, New Life Assembly, and Calvary Baptist Church took over the operation of the service.
Sioux Lookout Food Bank Board Chair Merle Burkholder said over the past year, the Food Bank has seen its food stores steadily decrease, while it has seen the need for the service steadily increase.
“We have provided food to about 125 households in the last year,” he said, adding, “Last month we gave food to 87 individuals.”
“With inflation and food prices going up, there’s more people that are just really struggling,” he said.
The Food Bank recently hired Amanda Landgraff as its manager.
“That’s a big step for us just being able to have a manager… before we didn’t have anybody to supervise volunteers, so now we’re really ready to utilize volunteers and get a lot more structured delivery schedule so people get food in a more timely way.”
The Food Bank currently operates on a model where people can call 807-738-6896 to request a food hamper. Hampers are packed and delivered by volunteers.
“Depending on the need they can request most often every other week. Some people just need it once a month… some it’s more regular than that,” Landgraff said.
The Food Bank is looking for more volunteers as well as food donations.
Anyone who can donate or is interested in volunteering can email siouxfoodbank@gmail.com. People can also donate monetarily using the email, which is set up for auto-deposit. Landgraff asks that anyone making a monetary donation also send a separate email with their name and address so they can be issued a charitable receipt. People can also mail a cheque to the Sioux Lookout Food Bank at PO Box 674, Sioux Lookout, P8T 1B1.
Landgraff said she is planning to conduct volunteer training in October. 
The food bank will also accept donations of fresh produce from people’s gardens.
The Food Bank will also be conducting a fundraising BBQ and food drive on Saturday, Sept. 23 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Giant Tiger.
Suggested items for the food drive include: peanut butter and jam, soup, canned meat, canned beans, fruit cups and applesauce, canned fruit and juice boxes. 
Every item people donate gets their name entered into a draw for Giant Tiger gift cards.
Currently operating out of a small, temporary location, the Food Bank is looking to expand.
“We’re hoping to be able to build a building, so we’re looking for land if there is land in the downtown core somewhere… we want to build our own building so that we have a more suitable space where people can actually come but we need more space,” Burkholder concluded.