Vancouver food bank partners with 24 new programs as record 15K people seek support monthly
The Greater Vancouver Food Bank has partnered with 24 new community agencies this year alone, as the organization races to meet record-breaking demands that are showing no signs of slowing.
In January, the food bank welcomed its biggest batch of new additions to its Community Agency Partners program to date, bringing the total to 141.
The support provided to the groups—which include housing agencies, after-school programs and First Nation centres—serves up to 450 people each month, according to the GVFB’s website.
Cynthia Boulter, the food bank’s chief operating officer, says that when she joined the foodbank in 2018, there was a four-year waitlist for the CAP program, and only 75 organizations were receiving support.
“There wasn’t enough food at the food bank to allow them to take on more agencies and share,” Boulter told CTV News on Tuesday.
Since then, she says the GVFB has repaired and revitalized donor relationships, taken on more food vendors, ramped up fundraising efforts and cleared the waiting list.
“We know many of our community agencies that we support are not accepting new clients and we continue to. So we continue to find new donors of food—we focus a lot on food that would have been going to landfills,” she said.
‘HOW MUCH MORE CAN WE DO?’
Boulter says the food bank currently serves an average of 15,000 people each month, with between 800-1,000 of those individuals receiving support for the first time.
“We have had conversations around ‘What is our ceiling? How much more can we do?’” Boulter said. “We are setting records every month for foot traffic, the number of people walking through our doors. Unfortunately we just keep breaking them and if it’s not the month before it was the month previous to that. We just have really never seen anything like it.”
Of all the people accessing GVFB services, Boulter says 60 per cent reside in Vancouver.
“It’s about the most expensive city in North America, so that’s not surprising,” she said.
FOOD INSECURITY AMONG STUDENTS
Origin Church at the University of British Columbia, which primarily serves graduate students and their families, is one of the GVFB’s top food receivers, according to Boulter.
“During the pandemic, we took some federal funding that we had never received before and we purchased about $200,000 worth of refrigeration for potential community partners. The church stepped forward and has taken on this role on behalf of the students, which is really amazing,” Boulter said.
She adds that international students are especially prone to struggling with food insecurity, since it can be difficult for them to find paid work that fits with their visa restrictions and academic commitments.
“Not to mention, you know, that the money they had saved potentially didn’t last as long as they thought it would—particularly with inflation,” said Boulter. “So when we literally heard about starving students at UBC—like fainting students, and students dumpster diving, we started looking into how we could get food out there.”
DISTRIBUTION PROBLEMS
Boulter would like to see the food bank receive more funding for refrigeration equipment, arguing it would allow for more fresh, nutritious food to be delivered to people in need.
“There’s no reason for people to be going to bed hungry—that’s the heartbreaking piece,” she said. “There’s not a shortage of food, it’s a distribution problem.”
Boulter encourages more people to go online to explore volunteer opportunities with the GVFB.
“We couldn’t live a day without our volunteers. Literally not a day,” she said.
“We all know food banks aren’t a solution to food insecurity, but we aren’t a Band-Aid. The difference this food makes in people’s lives—it really is saving lives.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Spectacular aurora light show to be seen across Canada Friday night
A rare and severe solar storm is expected to bring spectacular displays of the northern lights, also known as aurora borealis, across much of Canada and parts of the United States on Friday night.
Town of Fort Nelson, B.C., ordered to evacuate due to wildfire
The entire town of Fort Nelson, B.C., as well as the nearby Fort Nelson First Nation, has been ordered to evacuate due to an out-of-control wildfire.
Bouchard lifts Edmonton Oilers to 4-3 overtime win over Canucks in Game 2
Evan Bouchard scored 5:38 into overtime and the Edmonton Oilers bounced back for a 4-3 win over the Vancouver Canucks in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs on Friday.
McGill University seeks emergency injunction to dismantle pro-Palestinian encampment
McGill University has filed a request for an injunction to have the pro-Palestinian encampment removed from its campus.
Which Canadian cities have the highest and lowest grocery prices?
Where you live plays a big factor in what you pay at the grocery store. And while it's no secret the same item may have a different price depending on the store, city or province, we wanted to see just how big the differences are, and why.
Swarm of 20,000 bees gather around woman’s car west of Toronto
A swarm of roughly 20,000 bees gathered around a woman’s car in the parking lot of Burlington Centre.
Video shows naked raccoon catching B.C. family by surprise
When Marvin Henschel spotted a strange and hairless creature wandering through a front lawn in B.C.'s Lower Mainland, he could barely believe his eyes.
Barron Trump declines to serve as an RNC delegate
Former U.S. President Donald Trump's youngest son, Barron Trump, has declined to serve as a delegate at this summer’s Republican National Convention, according to a senior Trump campaign adviser and a statement from Melania Trump's office.
Out-of-control wildfire prompts evacuation alert for Fort McMurray, Saprae Creek Estates Friday night
An evacuation alert was issued for two Wood Buffalo communities Friday night, as crews battled an out-of-control wildfire near Fort McMurray.