A little friendly competition never hurt anyone.
Burnaby Mayor Mike Hurley has been named as a participant in the 2022 Greater Vancouver Food Bank's mayors' food bank challenge.
The competition includes mayors from throughout Greater Vancouver and sees who can raise the most money per capita, with an overall campaign goal of $500,000.
According to the Greater Vancouver Food Bank, value per capita will be determined by combining cash raised and food value ($2.62 for each pound of food collected), and then dividing that total by the 2016 Census population data for each city.
Last year's winner was the City of North Vancouver, led by Mayor Linda Buchanan, with $68,905 raised between money and food, which equated to $1.20 per capita.
The Greater Vancouver Food Bank says during February, there were 3,221 visits to its distribution location at its warehouse in Burnaby on Winston Street.
Out of the visitors, 34% were children and youth and 11% were seniors.
“As the cost of living continues to rise in Metro Vancouver, it puts pressure on families who are trying their hardest to put food on the table,” Hurley said in a news release.
“By supporting your local food bank and the Mayors’ Food Bank Challenge, you can help ensure that families in our community continue to have access to nutritious and healthy meals."
Donations can be made to the overall campaign or to Burnaby and Mayor Mike Hurley's campaign online.
Participating mayors and cities are:
- Burnaby - Mayor Mike Hurley
- Chilliwack - Mayor Ken Popove
- City of North Vancouver - Mayor Linda Buchanan
- Coquitlam - Mayor Richard Stewart
- New Westminster - Mayor Jonathan Coté
- Port Coquitlam - Mayor Brad West
- Port Moody - Mayor Rob Vagramov
- Vancouver - Mayor Kennedy Stewart
- White Rock - Mayor Darryl Walker
- With files from Theresa McManus, New West Record
