about us

On behalf of the Board of Directors, we are proud to see how the Calgary Food Bank and the community rose to the challenges of this past year. In the true spirit of our mission, we worked together to ensure no one goes hungry.

The first half of our fiscal year had us analyzing the high demand we continue to experience. Emergency food hamper requests kept rising as the economy in Calgary stagnated. Many of our clients were unemployed or underemployed, making it difficult to make ends meet. Our agency partners were struggling with funding cuts and increased need.

We were diligently reviewing how we would continue to provide a high level of service with this constantly increasing demand. Were our current programs at their peak? What changes could we implement to stay sustainable? How can we continue our path of fiscal responsibility? Then COVID-19 hit.

The pandemic and subsequent economic collapse tested everyone’s preparedness, but the Calgary Food Bank proved they were ready and able to keep putting the community first. With only a two-day closure to refine processes, the staff and volunteers rallied to ensure we could continue meeting our clients’ needs while maintaining health and safety in the face of uncertainty about the virus.

Agencies and other food organizations came together to share food, resources, and talent. Together, we were able to reach into communities and open our doors in new and unique ways.

As we move into this “new normal,” we can confidently say that ongoing evaluation, collaboration, and preparedness will not only support Calgarians in crisis, but has also bonded
a community to work together now and in the  long run.

We started our fiscal year with an updated strategic road map to Feed, Lead, and Connect – a guide to help us with continued success in addressing food security for our community. Our road map had us focusing on using our experience, knowledge, and community capacity to identify and help address the root causes of hunger. Our programming was demonstrating that we are addressing both crisis and chronic food needs, as well as connecting people in a timely and effective way to partner agencies to address root causes of their food insecurity. Our technology was further refined to ensure food was available where it is needed most. With one click on an interactive map, volunteers are able to cross reference communities with our various satellite locations so that food needs are more accessible.

We were continuing to experience record high demand for our services. None of our programs have been immune to Calgary’s social and economic challenges, but each one has risen to the challenge with significant positive impacts. Then in March, that path was suddenly disrupted and challenged by the COVID-19 pandemic. As if an economic recession in Alberta was not enough.

In an unprecedented move, the Premier officially defined food banks in Alberta as essential services during the pandemic. This allowed us to stay open, stay focused and continue to meet the critical food needs of Calgary. We plan to ensure that food banks are permanently on the essential services list for any emergency rather than having to repeatedly plead our case to successive governments.

The Calgary Food Bank was only closed for two days at the beginning of the pandemic: one to gather a group of amazing people around the challenge of food security in a pandemic, and the other to test our scenarios. We used our understanding of people, food, logistics, safety, and leadership to pivot quickly and created even safer food handling processes for sorting, shopping, and collecting food. We introduced a distribution model that prioritized personal safety and security for those in need of food.  We used our collective experience with SARS, floods, and fire. This pandemic is like nothing we have ever planned for and our collective knowledge helps us ensure that we will be able to serve vulnerable Calgarians throughout this crisis and beyond.

Our leadership in food security and understanding of how food impacts change is being introduced to all levels of government for the first time. Planners, policy makers, and leaders are starting to incorporate this knowledge for emergency planning, social planning, and overall community development. Further impact is expected in agriculture, logistics, waste management, volunteer management, and leadership. Each of these areas will build stronger and more vibrant communities.  Food is no longer a footnote; food banks are now included as a critical part of building solutions.

I watch this group of dedicated staff and volunteers continue to safely prioritize community and food security every day. On behalf of the Calgary Food Bank, thank you for your support and trust.