FFCA has had a long history in supporting our community, from helping our neighbours, family and friends to charitable giving events with our strong Character Education program. One of the fantastic opportunities our school community has been able to do each year is supporting the local Food Bank. FFCA families and staff have donated close to $44,000 and just over 44,000 pounds of food since 1998!
Understanding how Canadians use food banks can enable us to continue to show amazing Character and compassion for those in need. Unfortunately, recent global events have meant that more families than ever before have needed to turn to the support of their local Food Banks. These valuable resources are not only seeing an increase in demand and a decrease in volunteer availability, but they are also seeing a decrease in available supplies.[1]
?In the first months of the pandemic, 1 in 7 Canadians reported being food insecure
?40% of the food distributed by Canadian food banks is fresh (milk, eggs, fruits, vegetables and bread)
?34% of Canadians relying on the food banks are children when they only represent 19% of the population
?Nearly 50% of food banks provided food support to an emergency program during the pandemic
?121,813 hampers have been distributed by the Calgary Food Bank across all its programs
?88,177 Emergency Food hampers were distributed, resulting in 4.1 million meals
?57% went to families
?37% to children
“In times of crisis, the Calgary Food Bank is first in, last out, meaning that the impacts of crises are felt earlier and last longer for food-insecure individuals and emergency response organizations.”[2] While the pandemic has been at the top of our minds, we can’t forget other global and economic crises facing our communities in the days ahead.
Please help us continue to provide our ongoing support to all of our community by joining FFCA once again in the campus-wide food bank drive. Your support of food items or an online donation can help someone struggling to make ends meet and put a meal on the table. That ‘someone’ could be a family member, friend or neighbour!
Wish list items
?Soup
?Pasta
?Rice
?Cereal
?Pasta Sauce
?Juice
?Peanut Butter
?Infant Formula
?Diapers
?Canned Vegetables: Carrots, Peas, Green Beans, Mixed Vegetables, Tomatoes
?Canned Fruits: Peaches, Pears, Oranges, Pineapple, Mixed Fruits
?Canned Protein: Ham, Turkey, Chicken, Salmon, Tuna, Beans
Anyone can donate online NOW until April 14th
https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/the-ffca-charter-school-society/?mprompt=1
FFCA families, please send your non-perishable items to school with your student April 4th -14th
[1] Information acquired from foodbankscanada.ca and calgaryfoodbank.com
[2] https://www.calgaryfoodbank.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/CalgaryFoodBank-COVID19-ImpactReport.pdf