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Out of the eight volunteers packing hampers at the Dorchester Food Bank on a cold mid-December morning, four of them were there because of Claudette Shea.

Shea, a lifetime volunteer, was joined by her two daughters and two daughters-in-law to help their community. She said it’s always been a tradition during the holidays, but everyone is putting in extra effort this season to meet the growing need.

“We’re a very close family and family oriented, always have been,” she said. “I was brought up in a large family and I have a large family, so I know what it means to go without.”

This year, volunteers in Dorchester collected 40 frozen turkeys to fill the hampers — something they used to rely on Moncton’s large turkey drive for.

Since 1991, the Moncton Firefighters’ Association has collected thousands of turkeys for Moncton, Riverview, Dieppe and surrounding communities, including Dorchester and Salisbury.

But in 2024, demand outweighed donations and Moncton Fire Department Deputy Chief Keith Guptill said they made the difficult decision to no longer support the rural communities.

“There are less donations coming in … because of people having to tighten their finances,” he said. “And yet, there [are] more requests.

“It’s kind of that never-ending cycle.”

Community volunteers step up to help neighbours

Shea said that while she used to do a lot of the heavy lifting — literally and figuratively — now she is content to carry the clipboard checklist and ensure volunteers pack everything into the boxes.

“I’m trying to keep them in line,” she laughed. “I tell them what to take first and tick them off as the stuff is being put in the boxes in order so that everybody gets an equal share.”

And the list itself is plenty long. The group provides around 10 days worth of food for families.

Alongside the usual canned fish and boxes of Kraft Dinner, there are also items, such as soap, shampoo and some special holiday treats.

“There [are] always some goodies in there for the kids — and even the adults, they like the goodies too,” said Linda LeBlanc, president of the Dorchester Volunteer Association, which runs the food bank.

There’s five pound bags of carrots, potatoes and apples, boxes of stuffing and gravy mix, and even homemade mittens for the children. But the biggest item that each recipient will receive is a turkey. 

“I think they were like $1.99 a pound,” LeBlanc said. “So if you’re getting the 15-pound turkey, it’s $30, right?”

“The community really pulled together, … a small community with a big heart for sure.”

The bottom line

The Shea family isn’t the only one helping out at the Dorchester food bank. LeBlanc’s children will also help on distribution day and vice-president Robert Corkerton has tasked his son with helping to stock shelves.

“I have four kids, and so they all spend time helping out, loading shelves, moving stuff in and out of here as it’s been needed over the years,” Corkerton said.

Corkerton does a lot of purchasing for the food bank, and said he tries to keep the budget low by shopping sales. And thanks to cash donations from the community, the turkey purchases didn’t break the bank this year.

While the food bank gets around 20 clients on a typical week, that number more than doubles for Christmas hampers. And LeBlanc said because many are families, that translates to nearly 125 people in the community.

“We have working poor, we have seniors, and people that work, but you know, they need the extra help,” she said. “It’s sad really, but it’s the times.”

The hampers will be picked up or delivered a few days before Christmas and LeBlanc said just like the volunteers, the recipients are neighbours too.

“I’ve lived here a long time and it’s always been neighbour helping neighbour,” said LeBlanc. “You kind of look out for one another.”

For Shea, she doesn’t do it for herself.

“You do it for someone else,” said Shea. “Especially at Christmas, … you don’t want to see anybody go without.”

Statistics Canada is reporting a population decrease last quarter for New Brunswick — its largest quarterly decline since the 1970s, according to an economic development consultant.

National data released this shows the population as of Oct. 1 had decreased across Canada.

In New Brunswick there was a drop of 0.1 per cent, or about 1,052 people.

Consultant David Campbell in Moncton said non-permanent residents were the main driver behind the change.

“The main issue is that we’re seeing a lot of what are called non-permanent residents leaving,” Campbell said. “So their work permits are ending, or their study permits are ending and they’re … kicked out of the country, they’re leaving the country.”

Campbell said that last quarter, New Brunswick welcomed 2,900 permanent residents, who “are coming here to live permanently and pursue their career goals.”

But there was also a loss in inter-provincial net migration, he said, with 3,000 moving into the province from other parts of Canada and 4,000 moving out.

New Brunswick’s natural growth rate, or births versus deaths, came in at a net decline of 300. That figure, Campbell said, has long been in the negative.

Janick Cormier, Atlantic vice-president for Restaurants Canada, said the decline has been “devastating” for the industry.

“It’s creating very challenging situations for a lot of our operators, especially in the more rural regions of the province, where the population is older,” Cormier said in an interview. “We simply don’t have a a large local labour pool to to tap into.”

Cormier said operators are in some cases reducing their hours or menu offerings to try to stay afloat with fewer staff.

According to Campbell, bringing more permanent residents into New Brunswick will be essential.

But Ottawa’s move to reduce the number of annual permanent and non-permanent residents might make that more difficult, he said.

“The median age in the province in the 1970s was 24, and now it’s 45,” Campbell said. “So we’re just getting a lot older and we need younger people to move here.

“If we don’t have a workforce, our economy will stagnate and, and it has, quite frankly.”

Campbell said that means less tax revenue for governments, fewer workers for key industries, and ultimately a lower quality of life in the province.

This summer New Brunswick announced it would take in 400 asylum claimants over two years, as part of a deal with Ottawa that would allow the province 1,500 more permanent residents under the Provincial Nominee Program.

But Cormier believes non-permanent residents should also be part of the conversation.

“A lot of them are coming to Canada thinking they will build a life here,” she said.

“People can’t renew … their work permits, but they might have already purchased their home in New Brunswick, and were really planning on settling here and building life here, and unfortunately are being told [they] need to go back home.”