A $14 increase in cost per client recorded by food aid agencies resulted in fewer services and a drop in the number of people helped, an umbrella body for the organisations revealed today.

The Non-Profit Alliance of Bermuda released figures that showed an analysis of assistance from seven providers in 2023 and 2025 indicated that spending for each person climbed from $177 to $191 over the period.

Members of its Association of Food Aid Providers reported that expenses combined with a more difficult fundraising environment put pressure on services.

Clare Mello-Robinson, the executive director of The Eliza DoLittle Society — a charity that supports people without secure and stable access to food — said: “The dramatic increase in demand for our pantry services is unlike anything we have experienced in recent years.

“At this moment, over 100 of our neighbours are waiting for access to food, a basic necessity that no one in Bermuda should ever have to go without.

“These numbers are far more than mere statistics, they reflect the daily struggles of families, seniors and hard-working individuals who, despite their best efforts, are unable to keep pace with the escalating cost of living.

“At The Eliza DoLittle Society , we are committed to meeting this need, but we cannot do it alone.

“Now more than ever, we need our community to stand with us so that no one is left behind.”

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The Non-Profit Alliance said that collective data released by its food aid providers association revealed “significant shifts in food aid delivery across Bermuda”.

Nine organisations and churches make up the Afap: Adventist Community Services, Age Concern Bermuda, Bermuda Is Love, the Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity, Christ Church Warwick, The Eliza Doolittle Society, Meals on Wheels, The Salvation Army and the St Vincent de Paul Society.

Figures provided by the Non-Profit Alliance showed that last year, seven of those collectively provided 101,002 fresh meals, 19,166 bags of groceries, 785 food vouchers and 1,669 Christmas hampers to 5,781 clients.

A spokeswoman added that the 2025 data did not include the cathedral as its food programme was not operational then, but has since relaunched.

Statistics were not provided by Bermuda Is Love.

Comparable figures from two years earlier showed that the seven agencies provided 157,228 fresh meals, 22,242 bags of groceries, 1,455 food vouchers and 848 Christmas hampers to 6,866 clients.

It was noted that the cathedral’s feeding programme was operational in 2023 and provided 39,000 meals but that information was excluded from the analysis so that the calculated difference would be more accurate.

Across the seven providers included in the collective data for 2025, $1.36 million was spent on food aid, the alliance said, with the cost per client increasing to $191 from $177 in 2023.

It reported that total food aid spending increased by 1 per cent while clients served dropped by 16 per cent, meals distributed fell by 36 per cent, provision of bags of groceries decreased by 14 per cent and there was a 46 per cent plummet in the volume of food vouchers issued.

The alliance said: “The data shows that while overall spending has remained largely stable, the cost of delivering services has risen.

“Organisations are spending more per person to provide the same programmes, limiting their ability to expand capacity.

“Afap members report that food costs, general cost-of-doing-business increases and a more difficult fundraising environment have placed pressure on services.

“In some cases, organisations have adapted their models to stretch resources further, while others have maintained intake levels cautiously amid financial uncertainty.”

It added that the Afap works to find “creative” ways to expand access to assistance without generating additional costs.

“This includes co-ordinating services to ensure coverage seven days a week at multiple locations and the publication of a weekly food aid calendar, helping individuals easily identify when and where food support is available across the island,” the alliance said.

The calendar can be accessed at nonprofitalliance.bm/directory-of-helping-services.