'We are struggling': Muslim Food Bank pleading for donations amid challenging Ramadan

The Lower Mainland Muslim Food Bank says it is struggling with high demand and not enough donations during the holy month of Ramadan.

Volunteers at the food bank are working hard to prepare distribution packages of non-perishable food for families. The bank sees an average of 15 new family registrations a day and thousands of people every month.

CEO Azim Dahya says the bank is pleading to the community to step up as the organization is also seeing an influx of newcomers, including refugees escaping war-torn countries like Palestine and Syria.

“They are struggling and when the economy is not doing well, we have to help them find jobs, but still it takes time to help them and make sure they have the right skills," Dahya told CTV News Vancouver. "Quite a lot of companies are downsizing so it’s a concern.”

Dahya says the demand coupled with inflation is leading to empty shelves and the bank having to work hard for donations to help families put food on the table.

Many volunteers at the bank including Marfat Harman have used the food bank themselves. Harman was a newcomer to Canada when she registered with the food bank 10 years ago.

“It’s not only about the food, (they) help with language, volunteering. You come for registration and every day we are now here helping others," Harman said.

Another challenge is sourcing culturally appropriate food, like halal meats, a necessity for many Muslim families especially during Ramadan.

"We need halal food, all clients need halal food and for that we need to make sure we provide them that so they can have decent meals to live comfortably in this part of the world,” Dahya said.

Barriers to food access

Tammara Soma is the research director of the Food Systems Lab at Simon Fraser University. She says high housing costs coupled with the trauma faced by refugees in their home countries, leads to even more barriers for families to access food.

“When people are coming from conflict zones, many of them have had to leave everything behind. They are basically coming with only a backpack maybe that they left their house in. So coming to Canada, this further exacerbates the issue of food insecurity especially when they are coming to Metro Vancouver where the average rental is $2,600 a month,” Soma said.

She adds food is a basic necessity but so is the quantity of it, especially for children many of whom are severely malnourished when they arrive in Canada.

"Sometimes the food is just not sufficient, it’s just once a week so how do you make ends meet for the rest of the week," she said.

For many using culturally-specific food banks like the Muslim Food Bank, it is their only option.

“In many countries, many have bigger families, so with children their need for nutrition, cultural needs, and religious needs, these might not necessarily be provided for in a generic food bank so there are all these layers,” explained Soma.

Soma says the only solution would be for more support from the government, with many community organizations overwhelmed and struggling to keep up with high demand.

“A lot of these community organizations need to be supported because a lot of Canadians, not just newcomers, are facing cost-price squeeze," she said.