Public is asked to donate nutritious, non-perishable food using bags placed on their doorsteps or online through virtual food drive
Vancouver, BC – The Greater Vancouver Food Bank is asking members of the public for online and nutritious, non-perishable food donations as part of its second annual Citywide Food Drive, which returns to the Lower Mainland on September 16th.
The event, which marks the start of Hunger Awareness Week in Canada, has the public being asked to leave nutritious, non-perishable food items on their doorsteps before 9:00 AM using the more than 38,000 paper bags that will be left in front of their homes in advance. Greater Vancouver Food Bank staff and volunteers will collect bags from doorsteps in Vancouver, New Westminster, Burnaby and the North Shore.
Aart Schuurman Hess, CEO of the Greater Vancouver Food Bank says: “We live in a city with a phenomenal culinary landscape, and yet every night, thousands of our citizens are struggling to serve their families a nutritious meal. After a successful inaugural event last year, we are looking to the people of Greater Vancouver for an even more robust second annual Citywide Food Drive in 2017.”
The food bank is looking to collect 100,000 lbs. of food, almost doubling last year’s haul of 53,000 lbs. The best food items for donation are: canned fish, canned chicken or turkey; canned black beans, chickpeas, and kidney beans; whole grains and whole-wheat pasta; and canned vegetables and fruit.
In addition, members of the public are asked to donate to the Greater Vancouver Food Bank directly at http://www.foodbank.bc.ca/citywide, where each $1 donated can be leveraged, with the food bank’s bulk purchasing power, to provide $3 worth of food to the over 26,500 individuals in Greater Vancouver who access their services every week.
Mr. Schuurman Hess adds: “The 2nd Annual Citywide Food Drive is one of the most important events of the year for the Greater Vancouver Food Bank and our members. We’re pleased to work with the BC Thanksgiving Food Drive to work towards reducing food insecurity, not only in the Lower Mainland, but throughout the province and ask the public to give generously, especially online, where we can buy fresh, local, nutritious foods at a large scale with lower price points for our members.”
In addition, as part of the event, volunteers and staff from the GVFB will be onsite at three locations on Sept 16th to collect food donations from the public: Save On Foods on Brooksbank in North Vancouver, Save On Foods on Kingsway & Willingdon in Burnaby and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints on West 41st in Vancouver.
For more information about the Greater Vancouver Food Bank and the second annual Citywide Food Drive, visit www.foodbank.bc.ca
To schedule an interview with the Greater Vancouver Food Bank, media are asked to contact etabakman@lbmg.ca.
About Greater Vancouver Food Bank:
The Greater Vancouver Food Bank is a non-profit organization with a mission to create empowering environments that provide and promote access to healthy food, education and training. The GVFB provides assistance to over 26,500 people weekly through 13 food locations and more than 80 community agencies located in Vancouver, Burnaby, New Westminster and the North Shore. The GVFB is committed to its vision of accessible, healthy and sustainable food for all and through community collaboration, is pro-actively working to help reduce food insecurity.