Burnaby, BC – September 8, 2020 – Once again, dealing with the impacts of COVID-19, the Greater Vancouver Food Bank is faced with finding a new food distribution location in Vancouver. They were able to set up in the Queen Elizabeth Theatre and the Mount Pleasant Community Centre initially when the pandemic hit, but had to vacate the QE after a couple of months. The Community Centre is starting to re-open with programming, and can no longer provide the space the GVFB needs for their growing client numbers. 4,000 – 6,000 sq ft is needed to safely set up with proper physical distancing, and keep their clients, staff and volunteers safe. It takes 25 staff and volunteers each day to serve 300 – 400+ individuals, representing 700 – 900 total clients.
The GVFB has leased a building in Vancouver which will serve as both a food distribution location, and a mini-warehouse from which they can supply many of their community agency partners. However, they need to do some renovations including adding 20,000+ cubic ft of refrigeration; they are hoping to open the doors to their clients at their new location on January 2, 2021, but with permits to obtain and construction to do it may be February 1st.
The temporary space the GVFB needs now will ideally have a loading bay for their trucks to unload the thousands of pounds of food they distribute Tuesdays – Fridays each week. The timeframe is October – December/January. They will need access to the space from 8am – 5pm, and on Wednesdays they will be offering evening hours.
If you can help, please contact Jodie Ou, GVFB Communications Officer @ 778-387-2666 or [email protected].
