Food demand at Calgary shelters on the rise this Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is less than two weeks away, but are Calgarians in the spirit of giving? The Mustard Seed sure hopes so, as it is seeing a huge increase in demand for meals, serving between 3,000 and 5,000 more meals per month compared to last year.

“The donations have remained steady, compared to last year but what the increase in need means is there an increase in need for donations as well,” said senior director of community and volunteer engagement, David Conrad. “So, $5.38 cents will get someone a nice warm Thanksgiving meal.

“With an increase need, there is an increase need for more donations”  

This year, the Mustard Seed plans to serve up to 500 meals on Thanksgiving, but it’s not just donations the charity is in need of — it also needs volunteers.

“When we went through the pandemic a lot of us got out of the habit of volunteering and we are still working on rebuilding that volunteer core across the city,” Conrad said.

Is giving this Thanksgiving harder due to the cost of living crisis? The Calgary Foundation’s annual Quality of Life Survey suggests so, highlighting a downward trend of Calgarians donating their money and time. Just 67 per cent of people made donations in 2024, compared to 75 per cent in 2023.

Calgarians CityNews spoke to say they aren’t surprised.

“I think everyone is just trying to pay for their own lives and everything and with the cost of living being so high it is really hard to donate even if you want to,” one person said.

“No one has disposable income anymore so first thing that goes is donations,” added another.

“People are just trying to get by”

One woman says she is still hoping to donate, even if the cost is high.

“I’ll be making donations this Thanksgiving because it is something I have been doing back in my home country and I love to do it”