Lethbridge Soup Kitchen in ‘tenuous position’ as it tries to cover overhead – Lethbridge | The Canadian News

Earlier this week, Lethbridge Soup Kitchen sounded the alarm on social media, needing $ 10,000 in donations to cover its expenses for the month of November.

“Our monthly base cost expenses are approximately $ 20,000 a month,” said CEO Bill Ginther. “That’s for salaries, insurance, utilities, just the basic costs to operate.”

“We have seen in the last few months that they have only entered about 10,000 (dollars a month).”

Thanks to the generosity of the community, that number was reached, but Ginther doesn’t expect the relief to last.

“We had a good influx of dollars and we are good for November, but that doesn’t mean we are good beyond the month,” Ginther said.

“We are in a very fragile position of, if we can’t provide, what should people do?”

But while fewer fundraising events and grants make it harder for the soup kitchen to find funds, the need for their services is increasing.

The organization offers approximately 7,000 meals a month and Minnie Alexander is serving more people now than ever.

“Last year at this time, if we reached about 100 meals served in the evening, that was a very busy night for us,” said Alexander, the dinner coordinator.

“Now my busiest night was 151 meals, so obviously the demand for a soup kitchen is huge.”

Without the necessary dollars, the kitchen cannot function, leaving those who depend on the food provided by the group in the cold.

“The food is huge. We could never provide meals without him and we do very well with food donations, ”said Alexander. “A lot of people like to give food, but I think it is more difficult to give money in cash.”

“Without the cash we just can’t move on.”

The nonprofit had been using its reserves to cover costs, but Ginther says they have now been depleted.