SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Demand is growing for the Yellowknife Food Bank and donations are on the decline, according to the food bank's president.

"The economy is a little tight during the last couple of years so they don't have so much to give but our demand is up," said Dave Ritchie, president of the food bank. "We used to be feeding 300 people but now we're feeding about 400 people."

The organization is spending $9,000 a month on food - up from $5,000 last year, and limiting bags of groceries it hands out every two weeks. The high cost of living in the city is also not helping

to reduce their demand, according to Ritchie.

"Half of those people (we're feeding) are children so we a lot of single parent families, we feed single people who are homeless and going through hard times," said Ritchie.

"We also have some older people who are on a fixed income but it's not quite enough to make ends meet these days with the high rent in Yellowknife."

The creation of the Food Rescue organization has made things easier for them, said Ritchie.

"Food Rescue has really helped out," said Ritchie. "They give us almost half the food we collect."

Food Rescue is a group of volunteers who pick up and deliver leftover food from grocery stores and warehouses.

"Food Rescue's mandate is to share the food with get with other organizations," said Ruby Trudel of Food Rescue. "The importance of the food bank is self-evident."

Around Christmas is when the food bank gets most of its donations, according to Ritchie but its future - as in previous years of late - looks a little uncertain.

"We'll be OK until this Christmas," said Ritchie. "As of next year I can't tell you, we might be tight."

The food bank is holding its annual general meeting on Thursday when Ritchie said he'll have a better idea of its financial situation.

Right now he said it has about 20 volunteers but he said the organization could use some new blood.

"It's hard to get volunteers," said Ritchie. "Some of our people left town,"

The Yellowknife Food Bank's annual general meeting will be at 7 p.m. on Thursday in the library meeting room.

The organization is located in the downstairs of Overlander Sports and offers groceries every second Saturday morning. The next day it will be open is Nov. 6.

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