Vancouver Food Bank renews call for donations as Christmas approaches
Posted October 10, 2016 9:27 am.
Last Updated October 10, 2016 9:29 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – As many of you sit down for a Thanksgiving meal today, there are many that aren’t sure where their next meal will come from, and one local food bank is using the holiday to increase efforts to fundraise.
The Greater Vancouver Food Bank says it had a pretty good summer in terms of donations, but things have dropped off since fall started.
Bank CEO Aart Schuurman Hess says there are concerns the shelves could be bare, even partially, as we inch closer to Christmas. “It is time where we have to ramp up 65 per cent of our revenue… that has to be generated in the next two and a half months, so it is a very, very important time of year for us to create the awareness that hunger is around 365 days a year.”
He adds every $1 donated allows staff to buy $3 worth of food, some of it sourced from local farmers. If you are thinking about giving food, they need things like canned fish, beans, whole wheat pasta, rice and peanut butter.
“Food donations of course are always welcome, but cash is king,” Hess adds.
Much of the food bank’s clientele is made up of children and seniors.
