CityReach Care Society, one of our newest CAPs!
With great excitement, the Greater Vancouver Food Bank welcomes 22 new Community Agency Partners (CAPs), bringing our total up to 115 partnerships!
Thanks to the many hours of phone calls, site visits and application reviews, our fabulous Community Agency team brought on ALL agencies that applied during our intake period. With the support from our financial and industry donors, we are determined to continue expanding our food support into our communities.
Did you know that we also have a new Vancouver-based location for our Agency Partners? Located near the Main Street-Science World Skytrain station, we have opened the doors of our Vancouver CAP Market, a pick-up site for our CAPs! Similar to our Burnaby warehouse, our Vancouver CAP Market has fridges stocked with fresh food, freezers, dry and bulk goods, as well as kitchen equipment. In fact, the cold storage capacity is 2x more than what we have in Burnaby!
We are thrilled to open our new location as it will allow our 94 CAPs in Vancouver to access food much more efficiently, especially those located in the Downtown Eastside.
Without further ado, let’s introduce our new CAPs!
A Loving Spoonful
Since 1989, A Loving Spoonful has provided food, love, hope and compassion to individuals and families living with chronic and life-threatening illnesses, primarily HIV. Last year alone, their Diversified Meal Programs provided approximately 180,000 meals throughout Metro Vancouver and the surrounding areas.
“A Loving Spoonful is proud to partner with the Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society so we can work together in coordinated efforts to ensure no one living with an illness is living with hunger.” – Elyse Freeborn, Director of Development and Volunteer Services at A Loving Spoonful.
Asian Canadian Benevolent Association
The Asian Canadian Benevolent Association focuses on supporting vulnerable seniors, people with disabilities, low-income families, homeless and single-parent families in the Chinatown area.
BCIT Student Association (BCITSA)
BCIT’s Student Association is a non-profit student service and advocacy organization at BCIT with a mandate to enhance student life. Their programs and services are designed to benefit and support all 48,500+ full-time and part-time students across BCIT’s five campuses.
CityReach Care Society
CityReach Care Society is a non-profit organization serving thousands of vulnerable individuals, children and families across Greater Vancouver. Specializing in meeting tangible needs through food security initiatives, CityReach provides a network of support through a variety of programs and community events.
“The Greater Vancouver Food Bank supports our programs so we can weather the fluctuations in food supply by providing us with eggs, dairy, produce, protein, bread and other pantry and household staples. This allows our program to provide nutritional consistency, food quality, quantity and variety to our guests.” – Sharon Dong, Director of Food for Families
Covenant House
For over 20 years, Covenant House Vancouver has provided unconditional love and absolute respect to youth experiencing homelessness, and to protect and safeguard all youth in need. They offer a continuum of services using evidence-informed theories and practices that ensure they care for the entire person – mind, body, and spirit.
“We are SO excited about our partnership with the Greater Vancouver Food Bank. This partnership will allow young people to have a greater access to quality food. When they arrive at Covenant House Vancouver, our youth are provided with healthy, filling, and delicious meals.” – Kristy Hayter, Director of Communications and Marketing at Covenant House
Starting left: A bin of non-perishables that Covenant House provides to street homeless youth, a meal prepared for the youth at Covenant House.
Don’t Go Hungry – Gordon Site
Don’t Go Hungry is a free grocery pop-up site for anyone in need of food support in New Westminster and Burnaby. Their newest location operates out of Gordon Presbyterian Church in South Burnaby and is their busiest food hub, feeding approximately 100 families each week.
Empress Rooms
Empress Transition House is a supportive housing environment located in the Downtown Eastside. They provide a 33-unit single room accommodation providing transitional housing to adult women at risk, transwomen inclusive, who are or have been impacted by violence and/or abuse. In addition, they provide support services 24/7, on-site breakfasts and dinners, and lunch staples in the afternoons.
Gordon Neighbourhood House
Gordon Neighbourhood House has served as a community hub located in Vancouver’s West End since 1942. They work alongside community members, sister organizations, local businesses and policymakers to create dynamic programs, services and initiatives that respond to the needs and dreams of the community.
Gathering Place
Gathering Place Community Centre offers programs and services to the Downtown South community. They support vulnerable populations, including people of lower-income, people with disabilities, seniors, people of diverse ethnic backgrounds, the LGBTQ+ community, youth, and people who are homeless.
House of Omeed
House of Omeed inspires hope in the hearts of refugees and newcomers to Canada. They provide food prep training, English classes, translation services, and help with resumes or government paperwork. Since the start of COVID-19, their main project has been providing food provisions for families in need.
Lion Hotel
The Lion is an SRO (single-room-occupancy) on the Downtown Eastside. In partnership with the Lookout Society, the Lion Hotel now has a Tenant Support Worker who is paired with clients to support them with food, medical needs, advocacy, and general support. With the food support that the GVFB provides, the Tenant Support Worker can now cook meals for the clients in need.
Lu’ma Temporary Shelter
In partnership with BC Housing, Lu’ma Native Housing Society is running a temporary shelter out of the Holiday Inn at 1110 Howe Street. Their temporary shelter resulted from the city clearing out Oppenheimer Park and needing to house the former residents living there. The hotel provides dinner and sometimes a light lunch, but Lu’ma supports the residents with their other food needs (breakfast, lunch, snacks, alternative meals).
Moscrop Secondary School
Moscrop Secondary School’s Home Economic teachers saw a need to reach out to the Greater Vancouver Food Bank when their school budget had left them with little ingredients to work with during their classes. As a result, the Home Ec students have been able to prepare food for their “Family Support Freezer”, which is available for students when there isn’t enough food at home.
Pacific Immigrant Resource Society
Pacific Immigrant Resource Society aims to empower immigrant and refugee women and children to fully participate in Canadian life through community-based, accessible, and inclusive programs.
PAL Vancouver
PAL is a forward-looking model for social housing, intergenerational living, and ageing in place. Their mission is to provide long-standing members of Metro Vancouver’s performing arts professions with affordable housing in a vibrant and creative community setting.
“We are thrilled to be partnered with the GVFB! It will improve the quality of life for residents who don’t have access to healthy food choices.” – Lynn Ross, Executive Director at PAL Vancouver
Princess Rooms
RainCity Housing’s Princess Rooms Transitional Housing Program specializes in providing a safe, supportive environment for individuals with a long history of being homeless. They offer 42 single rooms, some with kitchenettes, and two one-bedroom suites.
Refood- Filipino Food Bank
Refood is a food recovery organization that integrates suppliers and consumers to reduce the amount of food waste. Through their food recovery efforts, they divert viable food to those in need of food support in the Burnaby and New Westminster Filipino communities.
Silver Harbour Seniors’ Centre
Silver Harbour Seniors’ Centre offers over 70 programs and recreational activities for seniors living on the North Shore. Food support has always been an essential aspect of their work, and the demand has only grown since the start of the pandemic.
“With the provision of our Free Food Program, we are able to provide free food to low-income seniors that are having to make the awful of decision between paying rent and buying food. The support from the Food Bank will go towards making meals and providing easy and healthy add-ons such as tuna and oatmeal.” – Annwen Loverin, Executive Director at Silver Harbour Seniors’ Centre
The Belcourt Residence
Lookout Society’s mixed-income affordable housing resource opened in early July 2018 in the vibrant Vancouver community of Strathcona. Belcourt Residence is part of a newly built 400-unit affordable housing resource delivered through the City of Vancouver’s Housing Strategy.
Whole Way House
Whole Way House provides community building programs and tenant support services to low-income seniors, veterans and vulnerable residents in the Downtown Eastside and across Vancouver. Since March 2020 they have delivered more than 175,000 meals as part of their Seniors Meal Delivery Program.
Lookout Society, New West Hub
As an existing CAP, Lookout Society is opening their latest food hub in New Westminster where they will be storing and preparing food to be sent to other sites.
Burnaby School District South East Hub
The Burnaby School District is currently supported by the GVFB as a Community Capacity Partner. Their South East Hub initially started as temporary pandemic support through the Burnaby Neighbourhood House, but it will now be providing food to students of nearby schools and their families every other week.
A final note from us:
We continue to be amazed by how many additional lives we are able to support through our Community Agency Partners. We extend our thanks to our fantastic financial and food industry donors who make our mission a daily reality.
