Langford City Council joined the Goldstream Food Bank volunteers to help distribute food and bathroom supplies on Tuesday, Dec. 12th.
City Councillor Mark Morely said it was great to see community involvement and was learning about what can and cannot be donated to a food bank.
“Check your dates, check the type of food you’re donating because it’s all very dependent on the time of year and what people want,” he said. “I didn’t realize that, but now I do.”
Morely was joined by councillors Mary Wagner and Colby Harder, who had been at the food bank since it opened at 9 a.m.
Wagner, who had been involved with a food bank previously, was also learning a lot about what people might need this time of year.
“I’ve done the same thing, I donate my can of beans. But I’m going to think better about what they wouldn’t be able to afford,” she said.
Like many who donate to food banks, Wagner, in the past, has just donated the cans she has not been using rather than donating what people might want.
“There are certain things they need, (like) toiletries. That’s what people are maybe not donating as much,” Wagner said.
Mayor Scott Goodmanson was also helping the food bank, supporting the volunteers by putting away any goods that might not be needed.
There has been an increase in the demand for people using the food bank, and according to Goodmanson, this was a by-product of the population growth in Langford.
“Unfortunately, as the population increases, you have an increase of hundreds of different demographics,” he said. “It has nothing to do with any federal-provincial party in power and politics. That’s just whatever it is. Say it is three per cent or every time you add 10,000 people, you’re just adding more to that city and what it needs.”
Morely said that the community spirit around volunteering during the holiday season was great, but they wanted to challenge the local community to do it year-round.
“I know what Christmas is like, the whole community comes together. But it seems to me that we only have a regular number of people donating at this time of year. We should be cognizant that people need help in January and all year,” Morely said.
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