We now know how much money a Burnaby nonprofit organization is receiving four months after the province unveiled a new food security funding at its facility.
The Greater Vancouver Food Bank (GVFB) is getting $264,035 from a $15-million pot in hopes of providing more food to those in need over the holidays and in the New Year.
The funds, according to a news release, will also improve accessibility for low-income residents to fresh food, strengthen food infrastructure and create more regional hubs.
"Food security is crucial as we aim for a healthier and more resilient community," said Burnaby-Lougheed MLA Katrina Chen in the same statement.
"In response to challenges posed by global inflation and disruptions in our food supply, we are empowering and collaborating with local organizations, such as the Greater Vancouver Food Bank, to find ways of supporting more families in our community."
Dan Huang-Taylor, executive director of Food Banks BC, said food banks have been under "significant strain" since 2019.
"We are seeing increases in need among certain marginalized populations, certainly, people who are on fixed incomes and, quite worryingly, a significant number of people who are both working or two-household incomes, but still needing access to food bank services," he said following the formal announcement in Burnaby on Aug. 24.
"We are at the point where there have never been more food bank users in B.C., and that's in the 40-plus years that food banks have operated in the province."
The GVFB's Burnaby warehouse distributed about nine million pounds of food last year, he told the NOW, registering an average of up to 900 clients each month in the last year.
The number of clients the warehouse serves has almost tripled in the last five years from 6,000 to 17,000, Long said.
The GVFB's six-figure funding is also part of a larger $200-million investment for work to encourage food production in communities where food insecurity has risen due to global inflation, and emergencies that have interrupted supply chains and food production.
The GVFB distributes out of its Burnaby warehouse — located at 8345 Winston St. — on Fridays and Saturdays and distributes out of New Westminster at Olivet Church (613 Queens Ave.) on Thursdays.
For more information, you can visit the organization's website.
- with files from Lauren Vanderdeen, Burnaby NOW
