FOOD BANK FRIDAY: Our Virtual Fundraiser for The Greater Vancouver Food Bank (GVFB) is THIS FRIDAY, December 16th from 6AM – 6PM
Sportsnet 650 has once again teamed up with the GVFB to raise important funds for accessible, healthy & sustainable food for individuals and families.
Donate ONLINE HERE via our SECURED LINK or you can Donate via TEXT EMOJI to 30333. Text a CARROT to donate $5, a BANANA to donate $10 or a RED HEART to donate $25 (*) Standard messaging rates apply.
Make your dollar go even further!
We are excited to have two anonymous donors back again this year who will match donations $1 for $1 up to the first $45,000! This means your impact will be at least $4 for every dollar you donate, with the GVFB buying power! If you want to add your own match or challenge, please email events@foodbank.bc.ca
About the Greater Vancouver Food Bank
The GVFB supports 14,000 people monthly across Vancouver, Burnaby, New West and the North Shore; 26% are children and 14% are seniors. GVFB is registering approximately 1,000 new clients each month – this is record breaking. In addition to the clients, they serve directly, the GVFB provides food to 118 Community Agency Partners to run their own food and meal programs. They’ll be adding 24 more in January. These are community organizations like shelters, Community Centre’s, senior’s programs and after school programs.
The GVFB focusses heavily on distributing fresh food. 60% of what their clients receive is fresh, including dairy, protein and produce. Last year, the GVFB distributed 8 million pounds of food. Volunteers donated 60,000 hours to the GVFB last year, the equivalent of 31 full time staff. Follow the GVFB on social media to see your daily impact @vanfoodbank
Other ways to support the GVFB, in general:
Monetary donations
- One time
- Become a monthly donor
- Host a Virtual Food Drive (peer to peer online fundraiser, like Food Bank Friday!)
- Make a gift in your will
- Donate securities
- Organize an event
After much consideration, The Greater Vancouver Food Bank has decided to move away from food collection from the public for three reasons / here’s why:
- Unhealthy Food Donations – the food they distribute is packed with nutrition and the menus are dietitian-designed; most of the food we receive from food drives is neither.
- Labour Intensive – the support required for food drives is labour-intensive and an inefficient use of volunteer hours.
- Better Buying Power – the GVFB can buy more food and better food with our buying power (averages 2:1), because of the industry partnerships we have and the volume of food we purchase.
The GVFB does accept quality food from all types of businesses including:
- Farms with excess/overage of crops
- Large retail distribution facilities
- Direct donations from retailers with food that is close to best before date
- Direct donations from warehouses that has not hit the retail shelves
- Food that has been frozen on or before its best before date
- They also accept usable, quality, single SKU pallet donations from the food industry that may be mislabeled or close to best before dates.
- If you have palletized food from a wholesaler, retailer, or farm, we would be happy to accept them based on our capacity and Food Acceptance Policy.
- If you are unsure if a product meets the GVFB needs, please check out their Donation Acceptance Policy