Emily Plihal
Local Journalism
Initiative Reporter

Two non-profit groups are gearing up to host a Food Bank Drive to help those less fortunate this week in Grimshaw.

Resource Centre for Suicide Prevention Ladies Group and Grimshaw Family and Community Support Services are hosting the Food Bank Drive, set to collect food on April 27 throughout the community.

“In 2023, we started a Ladies Group at the RCSPNP in Grimshaw, it was created to give women a place to gather and interact,” says RCSP’s Casey Szmata.

“Many ladies are stay at home – moms and older ladies – that do not have a lot of places to meet other people. The group has been growing steadily, and not only do the ladies take great pride in coming together to support and offer friendship to each other, they also want to take care of their community.”

The two groups decided to hang bags on residents’ doors on April 24 throughout the day, hoping people will put food in them to be collected on April 27.

“It can be very hard on the mental health of people who cannot afford food for themselves or their families, so they decided that with the tough times we are all facing, a good event would be to support our local food bank,” explains Szmata.

“I’m very proud of the comradery and compassionate care that these ladies hold.”

Szmata says this particular event is being held in the Grimshaw area, however; they are hoping other communities decide to do the same to help people in these tough times.

“Lack of food or funds for food is definitely a huge factor in depression for those struggling, especially when there are families involved,” says Szmata.

“If we can help to make one stressor go away, then we are helping with their mental health,” she adds.

Szmata says with the high cost of food, gas, utilities and other expenses, with wages not going up, people are more stressed about how they will take care of their families.

“With the help of the CALM (Career and Life Management) classes from Grimshaw Public School, we will be hanging bags on April 24,” she says.

“We modeled it based on what another small community (Fairview) does annually for the food bank. The Fairview Fire Department, Fairview Flyers and Fairview High School does this drive yearly.”

Szmata says that the local food bank is experiencing higher usage than ever before, and they hope to be able to collect items to ensure they have enough to benefit everyone who needs the help.

“When the food bank in Grimshaw first opened their doors four years ago, they serviced approximately 16 families per month,” Szmata says.

“Today, they are servicing 50 to 80 families per month. I think this speaks to our tough economic times, and the need for this food drive,” she adds.

Szmata says the group will be driving around town and stopping at any houses that have filled their bags on the step for collection on Saturday, April 27.

“If people prefer, they can drop their filled bags from April 22-26 at the Resource Center for Suicide Prevention North Peace Office (Old Town Office) at 5003 – 53 Avenue, Grimshaw.”