Tony Rotherham, LJI
Food banks across Canada are overloaded with demand for assistance due to the high cost of food, general inflation of rents, and the cost of living. The Town of Brome Lake Food Bank, founded in 1990, has served the needy in TBL, West Bolton, and Brome village for 33 years.
The number of people using the food bank has increased from about 30-40 requests to a high of about 63 in mid-2023. It is now at about 50. People needing assistance fill out an application form at the community centre providing their address and family size.
The annual budget of the food bank is about $70,000 provided by generous contributions from individuals and organizations in the community. TBL provides telephone services and a room in the community centre for storing food and packing the boxes for pick-up each month on distribution day. Deliveries are made only in cases of emergency. A food voucher that can be used exclusively for food at the IGA may be provided. Some of the local organizations that provide support are IGA, Brome Bird Care, the Knowlton Pub Christmas party, and Le Comptoir Familial.
The food bank is operated by 20 volunteers who buy food from the IGA and other local wholesale providers, some of which provide stock at discount prices. The food is sorted and stored in the work room at the community centre. Boxes are packed according to family size and need by the volunteers ready for collection on distribution day.
Donations: non-perishable food can be left in the food bank bin in the cloakroom at the TBL Community Centre; send cheques to Town of Brome Lake Food Bank c/o TBL Community Centre, 270 Victoria St, Knowlton, QC, J0E 1V0; or donate through Canada Helps.