Calgary Charities Struggle with Skyrocketing Gas Prices

0:00Charities in Calgary are getting slammed by skyrocketing gas prices, hitting their delivery services hard. Meals on wheels, for example, deliver 6,000 meals a day to schools and seniors using 400 volunteers, and now they're hiking fuel. Subsidies for drivers who run 10 or more routes a year. Those haven't budged in 10 years. To man for these services is exploding too. Up 15% a year and 30% just last March. Food banks and meal programs spent around $10,000 a month on fuel before recent jumps, with older trucks guzzling more and racking up. 80,000 kilometers each annually. Leaders like those that meals on wheels say they won't miss a delivery in their 60 years of service, even if it means taking loans rather than charging clients. At the food bank, a 30% fuel hike forces choices between cutting operations or helping fewer low income folks. They ate at 23. 1,000 Calgarians last year.

1:00Alpha House, which responds citywide to homelessness and addiction calls, logs hundreds of thousands of kilometers every few months. Their fixed government funding doesn't flex for these global shocks, stretching budgets then and risking polls from other programs. These groups rely on thrift sales and donations to stay afloat, but with costs unrelenting, they're eyeing every dollar close while vowing to keep. Lifelines open for the vulnerable. I'm Corey with The Story, and you've been listening to Calvary News today, AI-powered local news.