Community Lunch Box unable to meet 2020 budget

After recent budget reviews, the Whitecourt Community Lunchbox Society is under financial constraints coming into the 2020 year. The financial challenges are largely due to the economic hard times the whole community is facing. The society’s bottle collection and recycling program used to be one of the more viable sources of income until recently. Since August, the recycling program has taken a steady decline and is now only one-third of what it used to be. More and more people are keeping their bottles for the money rather than donating them. Many long-term business supporters in the community have also had to pull in the reins and tighten their budgets which included cutbacks on donations. Provincial grants have been reduced or cancelled. The strength and weaknesses of our economy truly have a trickle-down effect. Some felt the impact early on while others continued coasting, but the time has come when everyone is feeling the impact in some way.

Dani Koester, Volunteer Co-ordinator/Community Liaison with the Whitecourt Community Lunchbox Society said, “We do not only see the decline in donations, but there is about a 50 per cent increase in the need for the school’s lunch and apple programs as well as youth and children programs where we provide food.” The budgets over the years for the Community Lunch Box had always remained consistent without a lot of fluctuation so this year the society is falling short due to the unexpected increase demands for the 2020 fiscal year. Koester added, “The financial difficulties are all-encompassing from the decline of funding coming into the increase in the demand for our services which reflects our economy. We have to thank all the corporate and business sponsors who’ve helped where they can.”

To meet the needs of the food programs, including the apple program, the Community Lunch Box set its 2020 budget for $230,000, which was based loosely on last year’s financials. However, with the shift in sponsorship funds and lack of grant money, the Lunch Box Society will not be able to meet its budget to carry them through the year and are about $76,000 short of meeting its needs. The society is taking steps to reduce further costs such as not taking wages and working more volunteer hours. Other cutbacks implemented affected the food program with decreased apple boxes each school receives and a decrease in quantity to the library. Koester said, “This is something we didn’t want to do but had no choice. We put out about $3,000 in apples alone per month and feed about 2,700 students a month on our food program. We are cutting back where we can, to make this work.” An emergency board meeting was called to discuss options and develop some strategies to, hopefully, obtain more funding as we did not foresee this crisis. “We are not closing our doors and there is light at the end of the tunnel. It may just take longer to get back to where we should be to meet the needs of the children as we need to ensure all students have access to food as our motto is no child should go hungry,” Koester added.

The Community Lunch Box Society is hoping more donations will come to help support its programs for all the children in Whitecourt and the Woodlands County regions. The society will be hosting its largest annual fundraiser event on February 29, 2020 at the St. Joseph Parish Hall. The Celebration Night is an opportunity to give thanks for the community support and all those who volunteer with the Lunch Box. There will be an extravagant dinner by the chefs at Eagle River Casino, an evening filled with entertainment, and a silent auction. There are still seats available for anyone wishing to purchase a ticket or a table, or if you’d like to donate items for the silent auction you can contact Dani at the Community Lunch Box 780-8252 or email admin@communitylunchbox.ca.