A food aid service operated by Food First NL will wrap up at the end of March due to lack of funding, and overwhelming demand.

The Community Food Helpline was set up in early 2020 as an online directory of food aid options available for people during the early days of the COVID pandemic.

A telephone “warm line” was added soon after and a direct food aid program which provided gift cards, meals, hamper deliveries and taxi chits was also added to the service.

Food First NL says the Community Food Helpline has served more than 11,000 clients from more than 80 communities by providing information and access to food.

A lack of long-term or dedicated funding, coupled with what Food First NL calls the “ever-increasing surge in demand…driven by the cost-of-living crisis” is forcing them to shut the program down. Wait times for a call back have reached as high as 7 weeks, rendering the helpline incapable of fulfilling its intended role as an emergency food aid program.

CEO Josh Smee says they’re very proud of what the helpline has achieved, but without a “stronger social safety net,” it isn’t possible to run the program sustainably. In the meantime, the Helpline will continue to operate until the end of March.