'The need has gone through the roof': Charitable organizations asking for donations, help following Fiona

GLACE BAY, N.S. -

There was no shortage of people picking up orders at the Glace Bay Food Bank on Wednesday.

"The need has gone through the roof. I just can't explain it," said Linda MacRae, the food bank’s coordinator.

One thing MacRae could explain is that many had to throw away nearly an entire household's worth of food after Fiona knocked out power.

Some are now on day 12 without electricity, and simply can't afford to replace it.

"They're calling. They're in tears," she said. “They're after stocking their freezers. People we haven't seen before that really didn't need us are coming in."

Outside the food bank, Allan Nicholson was pulling up with a cheque in his hand.

"I usually give donations to palliative care, which is always in need of course as well," Nicholson said. “But I figured I might as well give it this time to the Glace Bay Food Bank."

The Salvation Army in Glace Bay says it has served more than 3,000 meals a day during some of the darkest days post-Fiona.

Now, their cupboards are nearly bare and they’ve made a desperate plea for donations.

"We need some funds," said Captain Keith Barrett. “And we need some donations of either canned food, apple juice, cereals, pastas, pasta sauce, any of those things that we can hand out to people in need."

The need for help doesn’t exist only in Cape Breton.

Workers for CP Electric, based out of the Halifax area, hit the road for Pictou County on Wednesday to try and add to the ongoing efforts to restore people’s power.

"I just had a gut feeling a couple of days ago that we had to go help," said Ian MacPhail. "The fact that I knew that there's some people out there who have no power, no way of getting power, no means of a generator or anything, heat or warmth or food or anything, I couldn't stand it anymore. I knew that me and my crew - we had to get out there."

Back at the food bank, the concern looking forward is that Fiona's impact, plus ongoing inflation, combined with home heating expenses that are about to kick in now that colder weather is coming, will all add up to a "perfect storm" of its own for a tough couple of months ahead.

"The need is there. It was there before the hurricane and it's going to be there long after," MacRae said.