Over the weekend, JAK’s Beer Wine & Spirits customers across B.C. stocked up on their favourite beverages and made a difference doing it for the second annual JAK’s Gives Back.
JAK’s total donation to food banks across B.C. is a record-breaking $25,137.30, including nearly $9,000 going to the Burnaby-based Greater Vancouver Food Bank, which distributes to food hubs to several areas, including New Westminster.
“Our communities rallied behind JAK’s Gives Back this year like never before by stocking up, making personal donations at the cashier, and through purchasing our Gratitude wine,” said Tim Dumas, chief operating officer for JAK’s. “We bumped this campaign up by a month because we saw our communities needed our support now, and we beat last year’s $20,000 donation thanks to our customers, who showed up to make a difference even on a rainy and stormy Saturday.”
On May 30, through JAK’s Gives Back, 10% of sales across all 13 JAK’s locations were donated to local food banks including: the Greater Vancouver Food Bank, the Richmond Food Bank, SHARE Food Bank in Coquitlam, Friends in Need Food Bank in Maple Ridge, the Campbell River Food Bank, Williams Lake Salvation Army Food Bank, and the Penticton Salvation Army Food Bank.
“The Greater Vancouver Food Bank is expecting an unprecedented level of need to emerge in the next 3 – 6 months, and with your help we will be prepared. We are already seeing an increase in the number of brand new clients to the food bank, as well as people coming back who have not had to use the food bank for years. We are here to help all of them, with healthy food and a welcoming team,” said Cynthia Boulter, chief operating officer, Greater Vancouver Food Bank. “We’re so grateful to have community partners like JAK’s, who not only raise funds through their proceeds, but who also help to spread awareness about food insecurity, and the need that exists right in our own backyard.”