Families in need are increasingly scrambling for shampoo, nappies and other hygiene items that aid agencies don’t have in sufficient supply.
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“I’ve been coming here for about four months, it’s the first time I’ve managed to get diapers for my children, I’m very happy,” said Chery Roselene, a mother of two twins, who is struggling. to make ends meet. The newspaper met her at MultiCaf, a food aid organization in Montreal.
The speaker Arielle Laurion, who has been working there for a year and a half, observes that requests for food aid are not only on the rise, but that personal hygiene products are quickly disappearing from the shelves.
“We receive from time to time hygiene products and household products, but very quickly, the shelves are empty. We received boxes of diapers, but we won’t have any more in three days, ”she says.
families in need
Grossesse-secours faces the same problem with the many requests for help. This summer, the organization experienced one of the worst months.
“We have requests and requests. Last July, we carried out 21 emergency repairs. We are coming to the end of our resources”, deplores its director Josiane Robert.
Powdered milk, nappies, clothing and feminine protection, the needs are only growing and so are the costs associated with them.
The organization that helps families must spend more to bail out its shelves, so its limited capacity will soon be reached.
Throughout Quebec
In Montreal, as elsewhere in Quebec, the impact of inflation affects all social classes. After a return to school where the need for school supplies has exploded, La Maison de la Famille du Grand-Portage in Rivière-du-Loup finds that requests continue to flow.
“The middle class has been turned upside down by the current situation. There are people who you wouldn’t know would benefit from our help. What we offer is a time for troubleshooting, ”summarizes its director France Rousseau.
Moreover, the fast approaching holiday season will require an additional effort on the part of organizations to meet the demand, which is already forecast to be stronger than in previous years.