Food security is an issue in Manitoba thanks to rising cost of food and the high level of poverty in the province. Most communities have a locally run food bank to assist those who are struggling to provide enough food to feed themselves on a regular basis.

The Pas Friendship Centre took on the role of running and facilitating the food bank during the spark of the pandemic, but now has no choice but to close it down.

“The Pas Friendship Centre has run the tri-community food bank since March 2020 and we just can no longer do it,” said The Pas Friendship Centre Executive Director Douglas Bartlett. “We started it because the pandemic put a strong focus on food shortages in the tri-community. We were up to about 200 hampers a month and then it went down to 150, with 100 of those hampers going to seniors.