A Maple Ridge, B.C., food bank says it is being forced to make difficult choices as demand reaches record levels and donations continue to decline.

Friends in Need Food Bank says it ran out of fresh produce, deli items and bread about an hour before closing last week and had to provide some of its clients with canned food instead.

“Not that this has never happened before, it’s just happening more frequently now,” says executive director Kim Boekhorst.

The food bank, which serves Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows, says it saw more than 1,000 unique households use its services in April for the first time ever, which, he says, is roughly double the number from five years ago.

At the same time, Boekhorst says donations from grocery stores are shrinking.

The organization runs a perishable food recovery program that collects unsold food from local grocers nearly every day of the year. 

In April, the food bank collected more than 58,000 kilograms of food but Boekhorst says that was still 18 per cent less than the month before.

“It’s kind of the perfect storm,” he said. “We see this larger influx of people coming into our food bank and we’re seeing less donations.”

Boekhorst says rising food and fuel prices are stretching both families and food banks, while grocery stores are also trying to reduce waste and recover more value from products that might previously have been donated.

“Of course, groceries are in the business of making money,” he added. “So they are likely cutting down shrinkage and there’s apps available now where you’re able to purchase at a discount rate before it’s donated.”

“So I’m sure the uptick of those types of programs is affecting [donations] as well.”

FoodMesh, a company that connects grocery stores with food banks and charities across Canada, says some businesses remain hesitant to donate unsold food because they fear being held legally responsible if someone gets sick.

The company’s CEO Jessica Regan says there are laws in place that protect those that donate food in good faith, unless the food is knowingly unsafe or donated with reckless disregard for safety.

“The myth of liability is something we constantly seek to debunk,” Regan said.

She says more businesses could help reduce food waste while supporting food banks struggling to keep up with rising demand.

“With rising food demands and food insecurity, and we have an enormous waste problem so we put a plea out to more businesses to help reduce the waste and rescue more food,” she said.

The food bank has already started rationing some products. Boekhorst says staff recently stopped distributing meat temporarily to ensure enough supply for all clients.

He says the people relying on the food bank are also changing. The organization says seniors are increasingly seeking help, stating that about 37 per cent of its clients are over the age of 55.

Boekhorst says the organization is also seeing growing need, particularly among the working poor.

“It’s working families that are coming in,” he said. “It’s not what you may imagine as a client that would attend the food bank.”

An April report from Food Banks Canada found that 19 out of every 100 food bank users in Canada have stable employment.

Meghann Forrest, who manages the food bank’s perishable food recovery program, says she understands firsthand what families are going through.

“I pretty much grew up using the food bank my whole life,” she said. “It’s horrible when you have to figure out how you’re going to get food for your family.”

Forrest says the program handles about seven deliveries a week from local grocery stores including Walmart, No Frills and Save-On-Foods.

“In a perfect world, more stores would be donating,” she said.

The food bank says it currently needs basics such as milk, eggs, potatoes, onions and diapers.