Lac La Ronge Food Bank sixth busiest in Saskatchewan
Out of 37 food banks across the Saskatchewan, the one in La Ronge is the sixth busiest overall.
That’s according to information released to the public Oct. 22 at the Lac La Ronge Food Bank’s annual general meeting, where board members came together to discuss the yearly ongoings of the organization. According to the 2018 March Hunger Count, which determines how much funding the group receives from Food Banks of Saskatchewan, the only places busier than La Ronge (707 people served) are Saskatoon (15,291), Regina (5,851), Prince Albert (2,458), Battlefords (2,050) and Moose Jaw (784).
“We draw from a larger region even though the population of La Ronge isn’t that great,” Chairperson Bonnie Werner said about why La Ronge ranks so high. “We have families who come in from Sucker River, Hall Lake and Stanley Mission because their communities aren’t able to provide this service.”
Other reasons for high food bank usage in La Ronge includes the high cost of rent in the North, heating bills in the winter, seasonal scarcity of funds and households will a large number of people. Werner noted all of those issues impact an individual’s capacity to provide food for their family, adding the food bank is focused on stepping in for those people and providing an emergency supply of food.