Every week, 28,000 men, women and children turn to the Greater Vancouver Food Bank for help. But for the people involved in making sure no one in this city goes hungry, its not enough just to feed people.
We want to focus on healthy, sustainable food for all, not just being an emergency provider, says CEO Aart Schuurman Hess.
On Monday, he announced new partnerships with area farmers to purchase fresh vegetables and fruits during the summer months.
Were taking it to the next level and actually having farmers grow for us, says communications manager Kay Thody.
Local producers have long been supporters of the food bank by donating surplus foods. But with the new partnerships, they can plant their crops accordingly, knowing that the food bank has committed to being a regular customer.
Not only that, but food bank volunteers will also help harvest the crops. Food bank staff were recently the test volunteers, going into farmers fields to reap what their planning had sown.
Were really shifting the traditional boundaries, Thody said. Because of our spending power, we can do so much more.
Staff have made internal changes to allow for the sorting and preserving of fresh foods at its local warehouse.
Another new initiative is the Collingwood Community Garden across from the food banks head office in Gastown. Produce thats grown by volunteers will be gathered, prepared and shared at the Downtown Eastside Community Kitchen.
Meanwhile, on Saturday the food bank got a big boost from the final leg of Five Hole For Food. Teams signed up to play hockey for food on Granville Street as the cross-Canada food-raising initiative wrapped up in Vancouver, raising 340,000 pounds of food nationwide.
Founder Richard Loat was inspired to found Five Hole for Food during the Vancouver Olympics, when Canadians united as a country over their shared love of hockey (and gold medals!) Realizing that hockey could be a vehicle for social change, his goal the first year was to raise 6,000 pounds of food.
Loat came up with food banks as his charity of choice because everyone knows what an empty stomach feels like, says Nicole van Zanten, the organizations volunteer web director and designer.
Schuurman Hess, the food banks CEO, was at Five Hole for Food on Granville, cheering on the teams, as well as the City of Vancouver for supporting such an initiative. Events such as this have a threefold benefit, he says: creating awareness of the food banks needs, building a sense of community and giving people a chance to have fun.
To get involved with the food banks fresh food initiative, contact volunteer co-ordinator Devan Ritchie at [email protected].
