If your life suddenly changed dramatically for the worse, how would you cope?
The people who run the Ladysmith Food Bank are asking you to think about that from the perspective of some of their clients, who have found themselves in difficult circumstances, often overnight.
“At a recent Food Bank management meeting, a friend told us of a young man whose life changed drastically when he lost his licence because of a DUI (driving under the influence),” described a Food Bank release.
“He lost his job because he could not drive a truck. When no money was coming in, he could not buy food or pay his rent. He was struggling to find work that did not require a driver’s licence.”
Or what about the couple who moved to Ladysmith to take up jobs? They were happy, then his plant shut down and she was laid off. “The Food Bank was able to give them some help.”
For many Food Bank clients transitions in their lives happen like waking up to a Franz Kafka nightmare – the one where a young man finds himself trapped in the form of a large, black beetle waving its legs in the air. Their worlds are completely different, and they are powerless to do anything about it.
The Food Bank – along with many other helping organizations – is located at the Ladysmith Resources Centre, 630 Second Ave. “Unfortunately the Food Bank can only give a little help, one bag of nourishing food, intended to be enough for one day.”
Hunger Awareness Week Sept. 19 to 23 is a chance for people to find out a little more about the clients and services of the Food Bank.
“We help as many as we can, but we cannot change the world or the poverty numbers for BC,” says the release.
“We can collect and distribute bags of food given to us by our neighbours in Ladysmith and packages of cereals and other items from the Food Banks Canada and Food Banks BC groups.”
They also look to the community for support, accepting donations of non-perishable foods from local churches, grocery stores, food-raising events by local organizations and from “people like you.”
The LRCA accepts bags of food and donation on behalf of the Food Bank. They are open, Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.