Government programs including the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) helped people cope with the pandemic through 2020. However, staff and volunteers say that demand at Charlotte County food banks has returned to historic numbers as the CERB program ended, the winter heating season arrived and the new year brought a surge in new cases of COVID 19 across New Brunswick.
    The number of families showing up at the Volunteer Centre of Charlotte County Inc. food bank in St. Stephen dropped by about 10 a month "pretty much right through the year until December, and then we found everyone again," says the center's coordinator, Donna Linton. The volunteer center helped about 300 families at Christmas, along with 170 families at the food bank in December, close to historical numbers, she says.
    Last year Action Ministries on Grand Manan handled visits from 305 families totalling 452 adults, 222 children and 18 seniors, down 60 families from 2019, mainly because of the CERB program, according to the group's secretary, Susan Lambert. This volunteer group did up 81 Christmas food hampers for 129 adults and 51 children, and the community provided Christmas gifts to about 46 children.
    "The CERB, I think, made a big difference in the number of people that came to the food bank," Lambert says. When COVID 19 rules prevented clients from coming to the food bank, the organization began deliveries. "We would get the things together, take them and put them on the doorstep. People knew they were coming," she explains.
    The food bank now opens on Fridays by appointment only to limit numbers, with masks and social distancing mandatory. Some federal benefits came to an end and the heating season arrived, but Lambert says the start of the scallop season will help some people, especially if they work long enough to qualify for employment insurance benefits.
    The number of people seeking help from the Deer Island Safety Net Food Bank Inc. dropped to as low as 12 per month when CERB checks began to arrive but returned to the more normal levels of 24 or 25 by December, according to volunteer Joyce Stuart. "As it came along fall and weather getting cooler, it picked up again," she says.
    This food bank sometimes helps people who move to Deer Island for work while they await their first paycheck. "There's a lot of work on Deer Island, and when they would come, they would be using the food bank until they would be able to get a paycheck coming and get straightened around," Stuart explains. People come from as far as Newfoundland to work at the Paturel lobster plant, Cooke Aquaculture and smaller employers, she said.
    The St. George and Area Food Bank gained some clients because of COVID 19 but lost some regulars when federal benefits kicked in, according to the group's secretary and treasurer, Peter Justason. "The government support was so good that they did not need to come to the food bank," he says. The organization helped about 100 families -- 125 adults and 90 children -- in December, close to historical averages but possibly not all the same faces.
    Numbers seeking help increased only slightly at the St. Andrews and Area Open Door Program Inc., probably because of government programs, says volunteer Michelle Leger. This group gives clients President's Choice gift cards rather than food itself, helping about 35 families each month, she explains.
    "Honestly, I think most of us are worried about what's going to happen when all of the extra federal money and everything stops," she says. Heating bills go up in the winter, and Leger and others can tell stories where clients in subsidized housing did not realize that since their income went up because of government payments, rent and utilities were not automatically deducted from their checks. "Some clients ended up being evicted because they weren't paying rent," Leger says.
    Some clients might face a shock if they do not realize that the Canada Revenue Agency considers CERB payments to be taxable income, according to Justason in St. George.
    Linton knows of people surviving on income assistance left worse off because they applied for and accepted their $2,000 CERB checks, not realizing that they had to earn income of at least $5,000 before taxes from employment to qualify.
    "I am aware of one family that made arrangements with social services, and they said they'd be paying it back for the rest of their lives," Linton says. "They'd take the rest of their lives to pay back $2,000." Last year the federal government announced the Canada Recovery Benefit as a replacement for CERB, but it, too, applies to people who lost income from working, not people on long term assistance.
    Linton says that fewer people applied for the New Brunswick Home Energy Assistance Program one time benefit of $100, possibly because of CERB. However, she says, "Most of our families didn't get the CERB." She knows clients living on assistance who, probably because they fell behind on payments in the past, have their rent and power bills deducted from their monthly checks, leaving them with $10 or less for food and other necessities.
    These organizations all report that donations are holding up, with corporations and businesses sometimes taking up the slack in the seasonal lull in giving after Christmas. Deliveries from Food Depot Alimentaire, a registered provincial charity assisting food banks and other agencies across New Brunswick, also help.

Help with heating and other costs
    These organizations also help people in emergencies with home heating bills on an informal basis but there is no overarching program.
    The Volunteer Centre of Charlotte County helps with heating bills "only when I have to," says Linton in St. Stephen. "We don't have the capacity to do it for everyone," she explains. "That's what's really lacking in the community -- some type of energy assistance."
    She wishes the province would apply the $100 home energy assistance checks directly to power bills, "and not when they're in a total dire emergency and they owe $1,700 and they've got to come up with the other $1,100 before they get the $100." She is thankful that NB Power no longer disconnects people for non payment in winter, although this leaves clients with even bigger bills to pay later. "I think that if somebody has to be on welfare that they should have a lower energy rate. They should have the benefit of a lower energy cost. They just can't pay it," she says.
    Action Ministries will help with fuel bills and other expenses on an individual basis, according to Lambert on Grand Manan. The group might provide help for fuel, medications, transportation for medical reasons or if someone's home burns. "We help with different things when it's absolutely necessary and people are in need," she says. This group also runs Thrifties second-hand shop.
    The Deer Island Safety Net will help with medications, recovery from a fire or other emergencies. "We're more than a food bank. We are a safety net," Stuart stresses.
    The St. George and Area Food Bank sometimes negotiates with NB Power to lower a client's bill, Justason says. Sometimes the group will give a donated gift card or money to a client falling behind on heating bills.
    The St. Andrews and Area Open Door Program sometimes seeks help in the community for a client unable to pay a heat or power bill. "We don't leave them empty handed," Leger says, but the group focuses on food.