Montreal meals banks say they’re struggling to maintain up with inflation

Inflation is everywhere, even at food banks. Now, some say they don’t have enough non-food related items to meet the increasing demand.

Marie Louisina Gedus is one of many that relies on Multi Caf, a food bank in Côte-Des-Neiges—Notre-Dame-De-Grâce since she and two-year-old son arrived in Montreal nine months ago.

“I came here for help,” said Gedus. “I need clothes, food, diapers for my son, things like that.”

But there are no diapers to give her — only pull-ups, which are too big for her son.

There are only enough for her and two more families. It’s one of many products the food bank is lacking.

“There’s a lot of requests … for diapers,” said Andre Corbeil, Multi Caf’s deputy director. “We have a lot of families that arrived this year… There is baby milk, which is requested too, some clothes. A lot of stuff that is not related to food.”

It’s a similar situation at Grossesse-secours. The closet is usually full of diapers and formula, but the supply is dwindling.

“Right now, we need diapers of all sizes and formula,” said Josiane Robert, Grossesse-secours’ general director, adding with more people feeling the pinch because of inflation, the organization is coming to the end of its resources.

“Everything is more expensive, but salaries aren’t increasing, so it’s people on a salary who also need emergency help.”

At Multi Caf, Gedus says she got everything she needs.

But with the foodbank’s annual budget spent in just six months its director fears with demand so high that won’t always be the case.

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