As we at the Greater Vancouver Food Bank (GVFB) launch our 2024 Spring Food Bank Challenge on May 1, we celebrate our uniqueness as a food bank that doesn’t do food drives—but rather focuses on fundraising and providing up to 70 per cent fresh food to our clients and community agencies. 

The food previously donated through food drives was not nutritious, contained 30 per cent spoiled and wasted food (which the GVFB had to pay to dispose of), and none of it was connected to the menu planning that the GVFB does to provide healthy, meal-based food items for its communities each week. 

The need in our communities is about to spike. Many people think of donating most traditionally around Thanksgiving or during the holiday season, but the need is actually greatest in the summer months, when school is out, and families no longer have access to the many school-based meal programs that help to feed their children. 

The GVFB is here to help, with weekly healthy menus provided to 15,000 people and over 130 community agencies each month. These agencies include schools, women’s shelters, housing programs and SROs, community centres, and more. Almost 30 per cent of our individual clients are children under 18, and close to 20 per cent are seniors. These are amongst the most vulnerable people in our communities, and many need our support. 

We register families who have been turning the electricity on and off in their homes just to be able to pay the rent, with no money left for food. We talk to parents who have been skipping meals so their children can eat, and to seniors who have not had fresh produce in months.

When people raise funds for the GVFB, we can harness our significant buying power to purchase healthy food. We focus on providing high-nutrition items that people often can’t afford, such as fresh proteins, dairy, and produce. In addition to our weekly menus, we also provide three children’s nutrition programs and a seniors’ program monthly, all designed in partnership with a dietitian. 

People can take this opportunity to become monthly donors (like gold to charities, as this monthly revenue is predictable and sustainable—two critical elements that help us plan our operations); they can also take advantage of our popular online fundraising “virtual food drive” software and set a goal to raise money with family, friends, or colleagues, or they can make a one-time donation of cash or securities. 

The Spring Food Bank Challenge is a wonderful way to increase everyone’s awareness about hunger in our communities, and to directly contribute to increasing food security. Go here to get involved.

Cynthia Boulter is the chief operating officer at the Greater Vancouver Food Bank.