After years of helping veterans in Calgary with their essential needs, the Veterans Food Bank will be shutting down in early 2019, but the Legion says it will be replacing it with a different approach.

On January 31, organizers of the Veterans Food Bank, a place where current and former members of Canada’s military can go for financial support, will be shutting its doors for good.

Chris Strong, Provincial Command president, says the decision to close came about because of funding and staffing issues. There was also a feeling on the board that the money wouldn’t always be there to keep the facility going.

“Do we want to spend that money keeping it going or do we want to spend the money helping the veterans that need that help?”

He says that a hamper every few months has been shown to be a ‘band-aid solution’ and isn’t as effective as other methods of support that have come about in the last year or so.

“It’s about getting the veteran a little closer to the service bureau, whether it’s through a branch or a command office, making sure they are getting everything they are entitled to but that they may not know about under Veterans Affairs Canada.”

Strong says that through the new processes, they’ve already been able to help 80 veterans get away from a reliance on the hampers.

The closure doesn’t mean that the group will be leaving members to fend for themselves.

“We’ve seen a huge success by sitting down with the veterans. We will do so with every veteran who is currently receiving or who has received a food voucher or hamper from the Food Bank. Perhaps we eliminate a need of that Food Bank by doing so.”

Those who have relied on the support of the Veterans Food Bank are sad to see the organization dissolved and wouldn’t know where to go without it.

“Without the veteran’s food bank, we have to go broke all the time to survive,” said Bruce Snow, a military veteran who served in the Middle East in the 70s. "Personally, next year will be even harder for me. Next year, I go on a Canadian pension which is less than AISH and then I’ve got to pay for 25 or 30 percent of my prescriptions, then I have to pay 25 or 30 percent for eyeglasses, stuff like that. And that dips into everything as well.”

Strong says that members of the charity will be meeting with Snow and everyone else who has used their service, past and present. He hopes that everyone will be attended to by the end of November.

“It’s just going to be a better system for everybody if we get hands on with these veterans day after day.”

The Calgary Veterans Food Bank is the only such facility currently in operation in the country. The Poppy Fund, the separate charity that helps fund the Food Bank, will still continue to accept donations.

(With files from Shaun Frenette)