Rising inflation leading to 'unprecedented demand' on Metro Vancouver charities this Thanksgiving

Not everyone will be sitting down to lavish turkey dinners this Thanksgiving weekend. The rising cost of inflation means more people than ever are cutting back and going without, and Metro Vancouver charities are stepping up to fill in the gap.

Union Gospel Mission on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside is preparing to host its first in-person holiday meal since the pandemic. On Monday, the group is planning to serve 3,000 meals.

“A holiday can feel additionally isolating, it can feel really lonely and tough,” said Nichole Mucci, communication manager for UGM.

“By having this warm, welcoming environment where we can say, ‘Come on in, you're welcome here. We love you for who you are and where you're at, have this delicious meal with us,’ it's truly special.”

Mucci said the charity will be serving 1,800 pounds of turkey, 800 pounds of mashed potatoes, 800 pounds of mixed vegetables, 250 litres of cranberry sauce and 575 pumpkin pies. But rising inflation is also making the meal itself more expensive.

“We noticed that the cost of turkey alone this year has increased from $5.99 a pound in 2020 to $7.99 a pound,” Mucci said. “While it doesn't sound incredibly large, when you think about the fact that we are purchasing around 1,800 pounds of turkey to have our holiday meal, that adds up very quickly.”

The impacts of rising food costs are also being seen at the Greater Vancouver Food Bank. CEO Cynthia Boulter said her organization is seeing “unprecedented demand” at the moment.

“It has been about 1,000 a month in terms of new client registrations, which is, you know, far beyond any numbers that we have ever seen before,” Boulter said. “We are seeing more retired nurses, retired teachers, people in their retirement who never imagined that they would have to rely on a food bank, but they just can't get by with the cost of living.”

Food banks in other parts of Canada, such as Mississauga, Ont., have reported less food being donated, putting extra strain on the charity. Boulter said, thankfully, that’s not the case in Greater Vancouver.

“The donations we get from industry are amazing (and) we've worked hard to build out our monthly donor base,” she said. “Those are staying steady. Again, we work hard. There is a tremendous amount of work that goes into making sure that happens.”

Both charities take cash donations, but people can also help by donating time.

Union Gospel Mission is still taking requests for anyone who would like to help serve Monday’s Thanksgiving meal, and the food bank needs volunteers almost every day.

“On a given day in our Vancouver location, for example, it takes 25 volunteers to make that happen and that's just one location, one day,” Boulter said.