5 Reasons Virtual Food Drives Are the Future of Fundraising
In a time when food banks are seeing higher demand, many may wonder what they can do to better support their local food bank. Gone are the days of the local food drive, when an assortment of packaged and canned foods would provide relief from hunger. All Canadians should have access to fresh, healthy foods, that allow them to have a complete and nutrient- dense diet. To achieve this, monetary donations must become the standard for Food Bank Fundraising.
The GVFB stopped taking non-industry food donations in 2022. Since then, we have grown our weekly menu to feature 68% fresh food, providing clients and agencies with fruits, vegetables and other perishable items, such as eggs, dairy and proteins.
Here are the five reasons why Virtual Food Drives (VFD) are leading Food Bank Fundraising:
1. Purchasing Power
Because of our size, scale, and unique position in the local food system, we have significantly greater buying power than the typical grocery store shopper. At the GVFB, we can double your donation when purchasing dairy products and other perishables such as milk and eggs, and we have up to 9:1 purchasing power on fresh produce.
2. Packaged Foods are Not Ideal
People struggling with food insecurity can afford many of the items that are donated from food drives. What they can’t afford are the perishable items, which include the healthy, nutritious items they need. Fresh foods are essential to a healthy diet and the well-being of our clients.
3. Providing Nutrient-Dense Diets
Our clients deserve access to fresh, nutritious food, which isn’t possible with food donations from the public. Perishable foods cannot be stored or transported in a way that ensures they won’t spoil when transitioning from donor to food bank. With monetary donations, we can purchase fresh food and ensure that we have enough to provide for all clients.
4. Fostering Relationships
We have amazing relationships with farmers and grocers who generously donate their pre-consumer foods and farm-fresh produce. We value this process as it allows us to redirect funding to operational costs that are crucial in storage and operational costs. The fresh, pre-consumer component is critical, as we want to deliver to our clients the same quality food that you purchase at a grocery store, not leftover or unwanted items. Our philosophy is – if you wouldn’t feed it to your own family then we shouldn’t be serving it to our clients.
5. It Takes More Than Food
Food Banks require more than just food to operate. Monetary donations allow us to purchase coolers to safely store the food, pay our drivers to transport the food, and so much more that is required to keep our operations running. Through the support of our incredible donors, we are able to help those struggling with food insecurity within our community.
We are fortunate to be supported by a network of organizations and foundations who understand our need for monetary donations. Thank you to these incredible organizations who embraced the power of VFD’s with fantastic success! We wanted to extend a big thank you for their generosity.
Thank you to these VFD’s that raised between $10,000 and $20,000!
TD Wealth
$11,250
SFU (Facilities Services Team)
$11,950
Mantra Construction Inc.
$12,630
Global Relay
$13,250
Xenon Pharmaceutical
$18,400
A round of applause for these VFD’s that raised between $20,000 and $30,000!
Adera Development Corporation
$23,097
DXG Gruppe Experience
$25,788
BC Pavillion Corporation (PavCo)
$26,038
A Thinking Ape, Next Level Games & Demonware (Gamers Gather Grub)
$28,573
A round of applause for these VFD’s that raised between $20,000 and $30,000!
Stemcell Technologies
$40,000
Galloway Botteselle & Company LLP
$52,600
PenderFund Capital Management
$54,541
