Calgary Meals on Wheels battling rising costs due to inflation
Officials with Calgary Meals on Wheels say the charity is struggling right now thanks to rising fuel and delivery costs combined with an increase in food and utility prices.
The agency operates annually on $5 million and does budget for inflation, but even taking that into account, rising costs have forced it to spent $85,000 over budget to keep up.
Co-CEO Stephanie Ralph says rising costs are adding up for them in the same way they are for families throughout the city.
"The more the price is rising in Calgary, the more people who are probably going to be looking for services like ours," said Ralph. "So essentially, what we need to do is just fundraise more to make it happen."
The agency prepares 4,000 meals daily in its industrial kitchen and delivers them to 500 clients.
Some of the highest price increases staff say they are seeing is on essential ingredients.
"It's really impacting bread, milk, fruits, vegetables," said Ralph. "When we look at our menu, we follow Canada's Food Guide and we're trying our best to make the meals dietarily safe for the clients that need that."
Ralph says right now, Meals on Wheels is managing with the help of generous donors, and there is nowhere to cut costs in the organization to make up for inflation.
"The last thing we ever want to do is pass those costs on to our fee for service clients," she said. "We want to keep those costs as low as we can, because they're already having financial challenges."
The agency relies on volunteer drivers to deliver food to clients.
Christine Hentschel coordinates the drivers from an annual pool of 400 people.
"Oour volunteers do use their own vehicles and we offer a gas rebate program to help with the expense that comes with that," said Hentschel. "Gas prices – the way they've been going lately – definitely impacts some of the abilities of our volunteers to volunteer as much as they may have otherwise."
The organization also operates a fleet of vans to deliver food and insurance costs are also on the rise. Ralph doesn't see a time when inflation will ease on all fronts.
"And the thing about gas is that's the part that seems to be the most unpredictable," she said. "The end doesn't seem to be coming as when we're going to see it stop rising."
Learn more about Meals on Wheels Calgary by visiting the organization's website.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
"It's a bit of a complicated pattern; we've got a lot going on," said Jennifer Smith of the Meteorological Service of Canada in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. "[As is] typical with weather, all of these things are related."
Boeing's financial woes continue, while families of crash victims urge U.S. to prosecute the company
Boeing said Wednesday that it lost US$355 million on falling revenue in the first quarter, another sign of the crisis gripping the aircraft manufacturer as it faces increasing scrutiny over the safety of its planes and accusations of shoddy work from a growing number of whistleblowers.
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.