'It's a drain on the charity': Record-high fuel prices expected to impact Vancouver Island charities
With the cost of fuel sitting at an average of 229.9 cents a litre in Greater Victoria on Wednesday, volunteer-based charities could soon feel the pinch.
"It’s a drain on the charity. It’s a drain on the volunteers," said Christine Hewitt, executive director of CFAX Santas Anonymous.
The Victoria-based charity helps thousands of people throughout the year – but what the charity is seeing now is unprecedented.
"We have other charities coming forward asking for more help," said Hewitt.
With Canada’s inflation rate hitting 6.8 per cent in April, Hewitt says the need for help in the community is at levels never seen before.
"What do you trade off, filling the tank or feeding your family?" said Hewitt.
Fuel sits at 229.9 cents a litre at the ESSO gas station in Saanich, B.C., on May 18, 2022. (CTV News)
There's concerns that the cost of filling a tank could cause the hundreds of volunteers that work at local charities to stay home.
"We could see an impact in volunteerism because it’s too expensive to drive," said Hewitt.
Organizations that rely on personal vehicles say they could soon feel the pinch of rising fuel costs.
"We average 100 drives a week," said Harry Nykyel, chair of directors for the Cancer Drive Line Society. "It’s a five day week."
The Cancer Drive Line Society is a volunteer-based organization that provides transportation to and from any cancer related appointment from Sooke to Sidney to Victoria.
"I think that we’ll start to see an impact," said Nykyel.
So far, no volunteers have stopped driving due to the record-high fuel costs.
The drivers do get reimbursed on a mileage basis, but generally around 60 per cent of those drivers donate the money back to the organization, says Nykyel.
With the majority of the charity's drivers being retired and on a fixed income, Nykyel expects the rising cost at the pump will persuade many of them to put that money back into their tanks.
POTENTIAL IMPACTS ON THE HORIZON
"There are many different types of organizations that require volunteers to drive to complete their duties," said Lisa Mort-Putland, executive director of Volunteer Victoria.
From medical drive services to food banks and thrift stores, all will be impacted. But, Mort-Putland says it's too early to tell when that impact will be felt.
"So the gas prices haven’t had an impact just yet but there’s no question if they continue to head in this direction, we’ll see volunteers that can’t afford to drive and absorb the costs themselves," said the executive director.
Inflation, the summer travel season and continued fuel price impacts from the war in Ukraine have experts saying gas prices aren’t going down anytime soon.
The question now is, when will these volunteer groups feel the consequences?
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter banned from NBA
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter has been handed a lifetime ban from The National Basketball Association (NBA) following an investigation which found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors, the league says.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Attempt to have murder charge quashed against alleged serial killer dismissed by judge
A motion filed by the man accused of killing four Indigenous women in Winnipeg to have one of those murder charges quashed has been dismissed by the judge – weeks before the start of his trial.
Government proposes new policy for federally regulated employees to disconnect from work
In their 2024 budget, the federal government wants to amend the Canada Labour Code, so employers in federally regulated sectors will eliminate work-related communication with employees outside of scheduled hours. If implemented, this would affect roughly 500,000 employees across the country.
Earthquake jolts southern Japan
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.4 hit southern Japan late on Wednesday, said the Japan Meteorological Agency, without issuing a tsunami warning.