We have presented a $7,279 Emergency Community Support Fund grant to the Food Bank On Wheels to support single parents, families, and people with disabilities in Surrey during COVID-19. Food Bank On Wheels provides vulnerable clients free food hampers that are delivered safely to their homes. The funding from this grant was used to aid their Home Delivery of Perishable & Non-Perishable Food Hampers in Surrey project. The organization purchased resources to fill food hampers and hired a part-time driver for their dedicated ‘Charity Van’. The driver picks up donations and shops for items used to fill the hampers.
Food Bank On Wheels has provided their food hamper home delivery service to those who are unable to access a food bank in their area since the summer of 2018. Since the beginning of the pandemic, Food Bank On Wheels has received a drastic increase in phone calls from people who need their services. The main goal of the organization is to ensure that people who are unable to go to a food bank due to illness, disability, or transportation issues are not left behind; this is especially important during the pandemic when those with underlying health issues are at high risk. Therefore, this free food delivery service has become even more necessary within the past year.
“I am very grateful for the services myself and my girls receive from Food Bank On Wheels,” said Debbie K., a Surrey resident who receives Food Bank On Wheels services. “I am a single mother and grandmother to two girls. I have a disability that makes it difficult for me to visit a local food bank like other people. I have been using their services for over a year now and it has been really helpful for my family. We also received Christmas hampers and gift cards from them this past December during COVID. I can’t thank them enough for opening their hearts to single parents and people who cannot go out to access these kinds of services.”
Food Bank On Wheels buys a majority of the food and products needed to create nutritional hampers. However, some of the items they receive are from partner organizations, such as COBS Bread. Food deliveries are made a month. Bigger hampers and gift cards are given during the holiday seasons to support families in need. In 2019 Food Bank On Wheels also provided a Christmas Dinner/Food Hamper Event, where they picked up families from their homes and brought them together for the event. They had Christmas dinner prepared for the families and then drove them back home with their Christmas Food Hampers. Food Bank On Wheels also helps families during the back-to-school season by providing school supplies for their children.
“This charity has helped many families during the pandemic. They have recently provided 14 families with laptops, which included my family. The laptop allows me to provide homeschooling for my nine-year-old autistic son as I could not afford one myself. The food banks help every month saves me from potentially exposing my health as well as my child’s. It also takes a lot of pressure off financially as most of the disability support we receive goes into paying bills for rent, phones, and transportation,” stated Crystal Morgane, a Surrey resident receiving Food Bank On Wheels services.
The Food Bank On Wheels has started taking precautionary measures such as wearing masks and using sanitizers during the hamper making and delivery process. They also started including sanitization supplies in hampers to help protect their clients from COVID-19.
“The funding received from SurreyCares has helped us quite a lot in creating larger food hampers as well as meeting the high demand for food delivery services in our community," expressed James Silcox, Director for Food Bank on Wheels. “Since the pandemic, the number of donations has decreased due to local businesses being affected by it, which makes the funding from SurreyCares all the more important as it has helped us meet the demand. Interestingly, our presence in the community has drastically increased over the past year as more people need of food security services. We hope to receive this kind of support even after the worst is behind us.”
This grant is made possible through the Government of Canada's $350 million Emergency Community Support Fund, which saw over $900,000 allocated to SurreyCares in its first round and now, over $575,000 in the second round.
Christine Buttkus, Executive Director of SurreyCares Community Foundation, stated, “Food security is an important issue that has been on the rise since the beginning of the pandemic. SurreyCares Community Foundation is grateful to be able to support Food Bank On Wheels in its mission to deliver food services to people in need, especially to vulnerable members of our community who have limited access. The Emergency Community Support fund has helped us provide several grants to organizations addressing food security issues in our community. However, the need for such services has only continued to increase.”
The Emergency Community Support Fund is being delivered through a national partnership with Community Foundations of Canada, United Way Centraide Canada and the Canadian Red Cross.
Individuals and businesses who wish to support Surrey charities are asked to give to the Surrey Community Relief Fund. In partnership with the Surrey Now-Leader, Surrey Board of Trade and The Saheli Foundation, the goal is to raise $500,000 to support the most vulnerable populations in Surrey.
To learn more about Food Bank on Wheels, visit their website: http://www.foodbankonwheels.org/