Volunteer Mosope Fagbongbe (left) and city councillor Andrea Reimer hand out fresh produce to needy recipients as part of the Food for Families program.
Credit: Jessica Barrett
Outside a nondescript warehouse in East Vancouver, people hurry down the sidewalk pulling grocery carts chock full of local, and often organic, fruit and vegetables, as well as dairy, bread, and grains. It’s not a farmers market; it’s just another Thursday morning at the CityReach Care Society.
Each week, CityReach opens its doors to more than 170 families who come to stock up on healthy supplies for the week through the Food for Families program. But this is no ordinary food bank.
Executive director Tammy Cheetham explains CityReach’s mission is to help people prosper in every area of their lives, and that has to start with eating well. “It’s a very ethnically diverse community,” she says, gesturing to the line of people snaking through the warehouse. The majority are new immigrants. “We want to make sure that newcomers to Canada understand how to grow a healthy family in a new country when everything looks different and you can’t read the labels and you don’t know what is going to be a healthy breakfast for your child. North American pizza and McDonald’s just doesn’t cut it.”
To help combat the lure of cheap, unhealthy fast food, the Food for Families program offers classes for participants that focus on quick, nutritious recipes that are affordable for families battling poverty. “It’s simple things... that they can [prepare] ahead and just grab, and I really keep budget in mind,” says instructor and chef Judy Gifford. Classes run immediately after the food distribution with CityReach, and free childcare is provided. The society also offers workshops on grocery shopping on a budget, container gardening, and composting (compost from CityReach’s own kitchen is delivered to a local community garden).
Cheetham sees the Food for Families program as a package deal that empowers poor families to make healthier choices that will pay off in the long run, individually and collectively. “We’re not just providing for families in need; we’re enabling them to live a healthier lifestyle which, in turn, prevents them from being in the hospital with health issues, and a lot of our families do have health issues,” she says.
Cheetham adds that the opportunity is ripe for CityReach to expand to other areas of the city — right now it only serves East Van — and become a one-stop shop for families in need. In addition to Food for Families, CityReach provides out-of-school care for kids, a community closet, tutoring, and addictions support services, which it offers through a partnership with Broadway Church. Adding ESL classes and job-training programs would be a natural extension of its services, says Cheetham, but like many non-profits, the organization is struggling just to keep up the status quo. A grant from World Vision provided 75 per cent of the funding for Food for Families for its first three years, but with that money about to run out, Cheetham is struggling to make up the shortfall. She’s looking for corporate sponsors, volunteers, and in-kind donations of food, particularly fresh produce. The program is also looking for donations for its Christmas hampers.
Without the World Vision funding, Cheetham says she’s had to reduce the program’s operating budget by half. Meanwhile, demand has increased substantially: More than 50 families have joined the program in the last three months, and Cheetham estimates she could easily add another 30 before the end of the year. So far, she’s been dealing with her budgetary constraints by cutting positions and expenses in the administrative side. She’d rather do that than cut services for families, but with the increased need, she’s not sure how long she can keep it up. “My main goal was that when World Vision withdrew their funding... our families didn’t feel any impact whatsoever. We’ve done our best to ween things out on the back end, but on the front end we’ve just continued to grow. And the need is significant.”
For more information, visit CityReach.org
