The Whitehorse Food Bank has added an additional distribution day beginning Jan. 8.
In a Jan. 5 Facebook post, the food bank noted that in order to better serve clients, it would provide the additional distribution every Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. until at least March 31. All regular food bank policies will be in place.
The food bank has a cold weather policy of -40 C and will be closed if it reaches that temperature or is colder.
The new hours come in addition to its other distribution times through the week: Tuesday and Thursday 10 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. and 3 p.m. to 4:45 p.m. and, for families with children, Wednesdays from 10 a.m. until noon.
The food bank has been seeing an increase in clients recently.
In December, food bank executive director Dave Blottner said officials were expecting to serve between 2,000 and 2,500 individuals over the course of the month, compared to about 1,900 in December of 2020.
At the time, Blottner noted Yukoners continue to be impacted by COVID-19 with many having used up savings or lines of credit earlier in the pandemic, prompting the increase in clients at the food bank.
Along with its regular distribution, the food bank also handed out 384 Christmas dinner hampers last month.
Contact Stephanie Waddell at stephanie.waddell@yukon-news.com