The Community Food Sharing Association is expecting a major strain on the system as the school year wraps up this week.

General manager Tina Bishop says many families rely on school breakfast and lunch programs to help feed their children throughout the year. With those programs pausing for the summer, that burden shifts back to the home.

Bishop notes that this time of year also brings a lull in donations, meaning the association will likely have to purchase more food out-of-pocket to support the network.

“We see the regular people come all the time and they really need it because people just are not able to make ends meet during the summer months,” she told VOCM News.

“People are feeling that extra stress of having the children home all day and being able to feed the children the breakfast meals, the lunch meals that they would normally get through the school programs.”