Demand for the Calgary Food Bank remains high amid low inflation

If you can help the Calgary Food Bank with a food or monetary donation, it goes a long way.

Despite the inflation-adjusted numbers, CEO Melissa Fromm says the local charity serves 700 families a day.

“I like to see the inflation numbers start to come down, but there's really no such thing as going down, because once those numbers go up, they go up,” he said.

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According to Fromm, the number of requests for support is increasing.

“Where it used to be a very small percentage of Calgary food bank users, we're now seeing those numbers climb north of 20, 25 percent of Calgary food bank users, and what we're seeing is reflecting those losses. It's about a life crisis that we're seeing and people are doing everything right for all intents and purposes,” he said.

From says the food bank is in unprecedented demand and is always looking for items like fresh vegetables and fruit, protein and soups.

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“The best way people can help us as individuals is through financial contributions,” he said. “For every dollar donated to the Calgary Food Bank, we can distribute $3.50 worth of food.”

Alberta ranks poorly on Canada's Food Banks

Alberta gets failing grades in fighting poverty.

Food Banks Canada is out with its latest poverty report cards, in which the province received a D-minus.

Many other provinces in the country have also failed.

CEO Kirsten Bird told Know You Know with Rob Snow that people are struggling even more than last year.

“Last year it was bad for food banks and I think some of us were hoping that would be a turnaround, but unfortunately we saw that 44 percent of people felt worse than last year,” he said.

A quarter of Canadians say they are food insecure, and half of Albertans surveyed feel worse off than they did last year, the report said.

Nearly 35 percent say they spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing, while nearly 30 percent experience a low standard of living, and 14 percent say their standard of living is not adequate at all.

Anyone interested in learning more about how they can help can visit calgaryfoodbank.com