REGINA — It’s been another busy year for the Regina Food Bank (RFB).
RFB CEO John Bailey sat down with SaskToday in early December to chat about the rise in food insecurity, expanding trades with other food banks, and what is on the horizon for 2026.
Food insecurity rising
The RFB is estimating serving 22,000 to 23,000 families by the end of 2025, roughly on par with 2024 numbers.
Bailey said the organization expects to provide about 230,000 points of service this year, roughly double the 110,000 recorded in 2020-21.
“We touch all four corners of the city, and a lot of times it comes down to folks that never saw themselves needing a food bank,” noted Bailey.
Bailey noted that situations arise suddenly where people now rely on food banks, whether it be rent increasing, a blip in employment or wages not meeting inflation.
"People are having trouble keeping up with food, gas and rent prices as the main drivers of what's putting that strain on that household budget.”
With these numbers increasing, Bailey said the RFB ensures demand can be met through its budget process.
“It's about making sure that our operations are as efficient as possible, whether that's making sure there's enough people to answer the phone or enough people [that] make hampers [and] enough people to ship and receive food.”
Donations
The RFB relies heavily on donations to ensure service levels are met. Bailey said they’re currently seeing a tale of two sides for donations.
“In terms of cash donations and monetary donations, we're seeing the donation base expand in a way that, again, we're not fully meeting the needs with what we're receiving, but we're able to continue to grow and continue to have more and more impact every year.”
When speaking about meeting demands, Bailey said the usage of the food bank has risen roughly 230 per cent in the past few years, while cash donations have gone up by 20 per cent.
As for food donations, Bailey said they’re seeing fewer food donations coming in as people are opting to donate cash.
“Part of that is because we've started really expressing the fact that we totally honour the food donated by folks, but also the biggest impact is with cash, and [people] are listening and hearing that and donating more dollars.”
One challenge the food bank had faced previously with donations was the 2024 Canada Post strike, which lasted a month between November and December.
The RFB lost roughly $200,000 from unfound cheques.
In 2025, Canada Post workers once again went on strike, starting in September before shifting to rotational strikes in October, with major strikes ending in November.
Bailey said this year’s strike had minimal impact on the group.
“Had we been dealing with the same thing this year like last year in terms of the timing of the work action, it probably would have been a different story,” he noted.
Trading
In September, the RFB and Greater Vancouver Food Bank (GVFB) traded a total of 90,000 pounds of food, less available in their respective regions.
The RFB managed to receive fresh produce, including carrots and tomatoes, from British Columbia. Meanwhile, the GVFB received food like pulses and grains, which are more native to Saskatchewan.
Bailey described the trade as opening a few doors for the RFB.
“It made people aware that this is possible and it takes some work, and it takes some logistics expertise, but you can actually make it happen.
“It also opened up some conversations with other food banks. We wanted to sort of open up the idea of all sorts of reasons for Canada [Canadian communities] exchanging food with each other to make sure that communities get fed,” he added.
Bailey mentioned planning another trade with the GVFB in 2026, but also discussed what it would take to make other deals with food banks.
“When we talk about what we look to do with a Calgary or a Winnipeg or even out into southern Ontario, it would really be dependent on what we have available and what they have available.”
Bailey sees the value in trading as it saves the RFB money from buying needed items.
Mosaic meal challenge sees success
In its sixth year, the Mosaic Million Meal challenge saw over 1.3 million meals raised, the second-highest amount for the fundraiser.
The challenge happens every October, where community members come together to raise funds and food.
“For that to happen in the sixth year is something truly remarkable,” said Bailey.
Bailey attributed its success to several factors, including awareness and redefining this year’s campaign.
“[People saw] it's more than a potato. It's more than a sandwich. It's more than a donation. This actually impacting your community seems to have resonated with folks, and it sort of allowed them to really think differently about what supporting the campaign looks like.”
Producing more food
The RFB is expanding the food it’s producing.
Currently, the food bank produces a soup mix using donated lentils, oats and other ingredients from partners and the community.
Bailey said the food bank is now looking at distributing its own pancake mix in January.
The RFB works with the University of Saskatchewan (U of S) and the Food Centre in Saskatoon on producing food.
“We own the ingredient list in conjunction with the U of S, so these are unique products that we use using locally sourced ingredients and then the production process and those sort of specs are also shared with us and we work with the Food Centre on those, so they are proprietary formulations and processes for bagging and mixing and doing all that kind of good stuff.”
Bailey also said the food bank is looking at making in-house lasagna, roasted potatoes, etc.
“It's about having products that folks can actually use and easily access, and that's where our focus is heading.”
Looking ahead
Bailey outlined several items the RFB will focus on in 2026.
“One is sort of expanding the amount of food and the variety of food that we're able to bring in, so as we look at new vendors, new partners, we want to make sure we're accessing food.”
Bailey also spoke about making the food bank more accessible for appointments.
“We get tens of thousands of phone calls a year, and really that means we're answering the phone during our operating hours, so what we're working on is trying to find a pathway so that folks can register online at any time that works for them.”
He said continuous improvements are needed as the food bank serves more people.
“We [will] continue working towards making sure that everybody who needs our support can receive it.”
