“We are serving more people than ever before.” Nanaimo food bank faces its biggest decline in donations while seeing an increase in need

Peter Sinclair (left) and director of philanthropy and revenue generation, Melissa Lavoie (right), at the food bank’s current warehouse (Lauryn Mackenzie/CHLY 101.7FM)

Loaves & Fishes Community Food Bank is facing unprecedented difficulties due to financial challenges and resulting in changes to this year’s Christmas Hamper program.

Peter Sinclair, Executive Director of Loaves & Fishes for almost 15 years, said he has never been confronted with such a significant financial challenge.

Over the last year, Loaves & Fishes has seen a 20 per cent decrease in donations, causing the organization to take on a monthly operating deficit of approximately $35,000.

As financial donations continue to decline while food insecurity rises across Vancouver Island, Sinclair told CHLY that they are now forced to modify this year’s Christmas hamper program.

“I mean, that's not sustainable, and we want to make sure that our programs are sustainable so that you know when people need us in the future, we're still here,” Sinclair said. “If we run out of money and we have to close the doors, then that's not going to help anyone. So we need to make the tough decisions to ensure that we're here for the long term.”

In the past, Loaves & Fishes has run their Christmas food hamper by handing out gift cards valued based on household size to local grocery stores, supplemented with extra food. With the decrease in donations this year, they will only be able to give out gift cards.

Sinclair said every month they see about 3,000 people access their free food market in Nanaimo, but come Christmas time, they see over 5,000 people access the Christmas hamper.

He said they have seen a 15 to 20 per cent increase in people coming to Loaves & Fishes for food over the last year.

“Over the last few months, it's been somewhat stable, but it is a jump up for sure,” he said. “So when we see a climb earlier in the year, it doesn't then drop back down; it kind of holds up that new high. So we are serving more people than ever before.”

This year, people can register for a Christmas hamper appointment through their website starting November 15.

While it is too late for the food bank to order additional food for the Christmas hamper, Loaves & Fishes is now issuing an urgent call for community donor support to be used to increase the gift card amounts to supplement the lack of additional food items. As well, the funds would be used to sustain other services.

Sinclair said that as they deal with their financial struggles, he worries more services may need to be changed or cut going into 2026, as they are set to move into their new warehouse in March. This warehouse has been supported by the City of Nanaimo with a land purchase of $1.3 million, the Regional District of Nanaimo with funding of $275,000, and the Government of B.C. with funding of $7 million. It is still waiting on funding from the Government of Canada that was promised in the 2024 fall economic statement.

“This is where we are hopeful that the federal government will come through with the $5 million that they have promised for this building, because without that funding from the federal government, we will be looking at taking out a mortgage that would result in a $30,000 a month mortgage payment,” he said. “So if you combine that additional expense with the ongoing shortfall that we have right now, we would most definitely be forced to make cuts in our services.”

Along with financial and food-related donations, Sinclair said they are also in need of more volunteers.

“Our regular hamper program is going to run right through December, and that relies upon the food that we collected getting sorted,” he said. “If the food doesn't get sorted, we can't give it to people.”

But Sinclair said he is still hopeful the community can come together and help support them during this time.

“I hear from people every day how much they appreciate the work that we're doing, they appreciate the commitment that we've got, they appreciate our track record,” he said. “When people know the need, I'm confident that they're going to respond.”

For the many ways to donate to the Loaves & Fishes Community Food Bank, visit their website at www.vifoodbank.org. Volunteer sign-up and the list of shifts for Nanaimo and Port Hardy can also be found on their website.

Funding Note: This story was produced with funding support from the Local Journalism Initiative, administered by the Community Radio Fund of Canada.