By Ian Holmes

Low-income families to benefit from Nanaimo funding announcement

Mar 22, 2017 | 3:15 PM

NANAIMO — A significant funding announcement to support low-income families around B.C. was made in Nanaimo on Wednesday.

Social Development and Social Innovation minister Michelle Stilwell said $24 million will increase access for low-income families to fresh food, dental and hearing care for children.

The Parksville-Qualicum MLA announced $10 million of the funding will go to Food Banks BC to help the organization’s 100 food banks receive, store and hand out perishable food.

Nanaimo Loaves and Fishes Community Foodbank executive director Peter Sinclair told NanaimoNewsNOW the funding will enhance their renowned Food Recovery Program, which secures perishable foods from grocery stores that would otherwise be thrown out.

“What we’ll be looking at is updated maintenance, probably replacement of trucks, possibly adding another truck,” Sinclair said. “We also act as a distribution facility for foodbanks on the island. We’ll be looking at increasing our capacity to ensure we can serve those foodbanks when they pick up food from us.”

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Sinclair said the value of food hand-outs last year was $3 million, a massive increase from $800,000 in 2012. He says the Food Recovery Program, which launced in 2012, is a big factor.

He said while demand on their food bank has stabilized, they are able to deliver more food to people who need it.

Meantime, $1 million in one-time funding will go to the BC Dental Association to support regular dental care for low-incomg families.

Dr. Robert Wolamski, a Nanaimo Dentist, said the money will help in a couple of ways.

“It makes it more affordable for the parent to initiate professional care,” he said. “It also address a little bit of the fee structure to make it easier for the dentists to be able to provide the service.”

Wolamksi said low-income children often suffer from painful tooth decay related conditions, noting an extreme example in Nanaimo where a child died of dental infection. He said two Nanaimo clinics handle a majority of dental care to children in poverty.

Nanaimo NDP MLA Leonard Krog said the funding announcement is a “sad commentary” on the core poverty that exists in Nanaimo and the region.

“It reflects the fact that the poor are getting poorer in this province and the rich are getting richer and the middle class is shrinking.”

He said the newly announced funds address “the symptoms of poverty but not the cause of poverty,” calling it a “band-aid” solution.

ian.holmes@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @reporterholmes