Downtown Eastside free meal program seeing rise in usage as grocery prices continue upward

Visits to a free meal program for women and children on the Downtown Eastside are up, as the cost to put food on the table continues to rise.

The YWCA Crabtree Corner reports it provided around 48,000 meals to women and children in 2025, up by 6,000 from the previous year.

Associate Director May Kwan says with grocery prices up 30 per cent in the past five years, people who used to come once or twice a week are now visiting more often.

“About three years ago, we would only have about 20 to 40 folks and families come to our breakfast at any given time during the five days that we serve it,” said Kwan.

“Now, we are seeing upwards of 80 to 100 families and individuals who come to access our breakfast meal.”

Kwan says the organization is seeing rising operating costs and have had to increase its fundraising to keep up with demand.

“We just have to work harder to reach out to different donors and apply for different grants that may be available,” she said.

“Our food program is going to always be our priority, so we would have to look at where else we would be able to find cost savings.”

Kwan says while Crabtree Corner grows its own food in a rooftop garden, it still isn’t enough to offset recent demand.

“As much as we put our best foot forward and our efforts forward, there are children who go hungry. There are families who go hungry,” she said.

“We do have surveys that ask, if you don’t access our meal, where do you go? And there are respondents who say, we just skip the meal, and we don’t eat that day.”

Kwan says despite the challenges, staff feel invigorated when helping families, but are saddened by the reality of hunger, especially among children.

—With files from Dean Recksiedler