Coast Wide Food Bank Drive

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Coast Wide Food Bank Drive

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Don't let families go hungry

Don't let families go hungryDon't let families go hungryDon't let families go hungry

The four Sunshine Coast BC Food Banks have partnered for the Annual Coast Wide Food Bank Drive

Learn more

Don't let families go hungry

Don't let families go hungryDon't let families go hungryDon't let families go hungry

The four Sunshine Coast BC Food Banks have partnered for the Annual Coast Wide Food Bank Drive

Learn more

MAY 3RD 2022 update

May 3rd 2022 Coast Wide Food Bank Drive Update

 MAY KICKS OFF THE 2022 ANNUAL COAST WIDE FOOD BANK DRIVE


A letter from the Sunshine Coast Food Banks:

The Sunshine Coast is blessed with four food banks – serving communities from Egmont to Langdale. Our goal is to provide healthy food choices to anyone who comes, regardless of their situation. 


There are a number of food security issues on the coast. All of our food bank recipients choose between food and rent, or food and medicine, or food and clothing. Some of our recipients have no or little income and no housing and are living rough. Others are working poor, showing up in their work uniform over their lunch hour so they can take food home at the end of the day. 


There are a variety of reasons for folks needing to use the food bank, but they all relate back to food insecurity.  It's important for our communities to  be able to continue to offer food to those that need it  All four of our Coast food banks – Pender Harbour, Sechelt, St. Bart’s, Gibsons and the Salvation Army, Gibsons work together with businesses and organizations on the Coast to sustain this effort. 


An Endowment Fund has been created under the auspices of the Sunshine Coast Foundation in order to increase involvement with the greater community.  


StatsCan tells us that the average BC household spends $207 per person per month on food. A family of four will spend around $800. Given that this number is over two years old, it’s safe to say that the food we can give folks is valuable in more ways than one. Average stats at one of our food banks look like this:  59 people came and picked up food for 103 people. Fifteen volunteers worked about 40 hours from set up to take down. Of course, not all the food those households needed was provided. Even at half that bill, the StatsCan number extrapolates to about $10,000.00 worth of food that day.  That’s why this letter is before you. 


We need cash donations. And we are asking you to help us.  Cash donations allow us to buy food that doesn’t usually get donated. There is always a need, always a food shelf in our supply room that is empty each month - and always families to feed. Facilities and equipment also need to be maintained. 


We hope that you can find a spot in your budget to include a donation to the Sunshine Coast Food Bank Drive through the website at www.coastwidefoodbankdrive.ca. Your donation benefits all the Coast Food Banks through The Sunshine Coast Foundation and their endowment program. 

JuLY 19th 2021 update

July 19th 2021 Coast Wide Food Bank Drive Update

 

Food Banks Campaign Reaches $100,000 Goal

The Coast’s four food banks are celebrating the generosity of the Sunshine Coast community that resulted in $100,000 of donations during their recent fundraising campaign.


“We are incredibly grateful to all the individuals, businesses, and other groups that contributed donations to our campaign,” said Susan Kimm-Jones, volunteer co-ordinator of the St. Bart’s Anglican Church food bank.


Many realtors made significant contributions to the campaign, including Remax City Realty, Sutton Group West Coast Realty, Remax Oceanview Realty, Sotheby’s International Realty, and Brynelsen O’Reilly Group. 


Other corporate supporters include Sunshine Coast Credit Union, John Enevoldson Engineering, Longman Developments, Ted Brackett Construction, Cedars Inn, Patra Pizza, Holy Family Catholic Parish, Howe Sound Pulp and Paper Employees Union, Sweet Start Coffee Roaster, and St. Mary’s Catholic Church.


Corporate donations to the campaign amounted to 50% of the total. The balance were gifts from generous individuals.


“The most exciting thing is how the four food banks came together to share the work of this campaign,” said Joka Wright, volunteer lead with the Pender Harbour Food Bank. “The donations to this campaign will help us all replenish our supplies so that we can meet the local need over the next few months.”


Most of the donations will be divided among the four local food banks. The food banks have also agreed to dedicate 10% of the total gifts to an endowment held by the Sunshine Coast Foundation. The Foundation will invest these gifts and use the earnings to make future grants to the food banks.


“We are excited to have launched an endowment that will ensure a future stream of income for these much-needed services,” said Darrell Pilgrim, Director of the Salvation Army Ministry in Gibsons.


The Foundation is continuing to accept donations at www.coastwidefoodbankdrive.ca. 

June 30th 2021 update

June 30th 2021 Coast Wide Food Bank Drive Update

We’ve reached 75% of our Goal. Help us to cross the finish line!


Since launching the campaign to raise $100,000, the four food banks on the Sunshine Coast have received close to $75,000 in donations and pledges.


“We are overwhelmed and grateful for the generosity of Sunshine Coast residents and businesses”, says Carey Rumba, Sunshine Coast Community Services’ Manager responsible for food programming. “We are particularly thankful for the efforts of the local real estate community.” Local realtors have pledged or contributed $25,000 to the food bank drive.


“We live in a very generous community,” says Darrell Pilgrim, Director of the Salvation Army Ministry in Gibsons. “It’s wonderful to see people who are prepared to share their own good fortune with others who are vulnerable.”


Launched on June 11th , the Coast Wide Food Bank Drive set a goal of raising $100,000 by July 15th . The gifts received will be divided among the four food banks operated on the Coast by Community Services, the Salvation Army, St. Bart’s Anglican Church, and the Pender Harbour Food Bank Society. Collectively, these four organizations help to ensure that individuals and families that are struggling with the impacts of COVID, poverty, and the high costs of living do not go hungry.


The Sunshine Coast Foundation is supporting the campaign. It is receiving all donations and issuing tax receipts. The Foundation and the four food banks have partnered to establish a permanent endowment that will provide a sustainable source of revenue for local food banks in the coming years and decades.


“While 90% of gifts that we receive are flowing directly back to the food banks, they have agreed to dedicate 10% toward a permanent endowment held by the Foundation,” says Foundation Executive Director, Wendy Francis. The Foundation also contributed $5,000 from its own funds to the endowment. It will invest this fund and use the earnings to make future grants to the food banks. “Over time, this will accumulate into something significant that will generate future grants to support food bank services”, Francis adds.


The first food bank in North America was established in the late 1960s and they became a common resource in the 1980s. At the time, food banks were intended to be temporary measures to address that decade’s economic challenges. Since then, the need has only grown with the gap between the rich and the poor. All Sunshine Coast food bank operators understand that providing food to those in need is tackling only the symptoms and not the causes. They are committed to working on the root causes of poverty in our community.


Please lend your support to this worthwhile effort and help us to reach or exceed our goal of $100,000 for this campaign. To make a gift, please visit the Sunshine Coast Foundation’s donations page.

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