Can you spare an hour?

Food Banks across Canada are doing record business.  In 2023, more people used food banks than at any time since food banks started keeping records (1989).  In BC, 200,000 people used food banks this year.  A third were employed.  The gap between a “living wage” and minimum wage is growing.  A third of food bank users are children.  Children who will be too hungry to learn at school.  Children who will suffer life-long health problems because they were malnourished.

Everyone who goes to a food bank has to register and prove their need.  There are no scammers. 

When I was a kid, we relied on charities to make ends meet.  Well, not “meet”.  Maybe, make the gap the difference between freezing and just being cold.  Between malnutrition and just being hungry all the time.  ALL. THE. TIME.

If you’d like to listen to my story, you can find a broadcast I made on CBC Radio some years ago, click here.

CBC is hosting its annual Food Ban Day on Friday 01 December.  It’s easy to donate.

Here’s how you can help:

·         Go the Food Banks BC donate button by clicking here

·         Click on the “Donate Monthly” button.

·         Pick a “Custom amount” for your donation.

·         Choose the amount that’s equal to your own hourly rate.  If your income isn’t based on an hourly rate, divide your annual income by 2,000.  For a schoolteacher, that’s about $42.50. per month.

·         Put it on your credit card.  You’ll get points.

·         Every dollar you donate will buy three dollars’ worth of food. 

o        Food banks receive matching grants. 

o        They buy in bulk/wholesale. 

o        They buy what’s needed in that area. 

·         DON’T donate food at the store. 

o   That one can of tuna you drop in the box at the supermarket costs money to transport to the food bank. 

o   It has to be sorted, wasting labour. 

o   It doesn’t get a matching grant. 

o   You paid retail.

·         When the food bank receives cash donations, they can order food as it’s needed, and as they can stock it.  Unspent money earns interest in the bank.

·         When food banks receive monthly donations, they can plan.  They know that each month there will be a set amount of money coming in. 

·         You will get a tax receipt in early January.

Everyone can spare an hour.  I have been donating to the food bank for 40 years. 

One last thing: once you’ve completed your online donation, convince two other people to donate.  Ask them to convince two others. 

If you are not a food bank user, you should be a donor.