Food Banks BC to get $15M in funding from province
Posted August 24, 2023 3:27 pm.
Last Updated August 24, 2023 3:32 pm.
B.C.’s poverty reduction minister stopped by the Greater Vancouver Food Bank Thursday, announcing $15 million in funding for Food Banks BC.
Sheila Malcolmson says the money will help support rapid access to food during emergencies like wildfires.
“People are under so much pressure because of global inflation, cost of housing,” Malcolmson said. “Food often is the thing that is the pressure valve here in a place like the food bank.”
Dan Huang-Taylor, the executive director of Food Banks BC, says food banks are seeing greater demand than ever before in their 40-year history. He says since 2019, when he joined the organization, it has seen a steady increase in need for its services, especially among marginalized groups, but also among others.
“People who are on fixed incomes and, quite worryingly, a significant number of people who are both working or two-household incomes, but still needing access to food bank services,” Huang-Taylor said.
“We’re living in almost concurrent emergency situations between the climate emergencies and the cost of living crisis.”
The money announced Thursday is part of a $200-million funding commitment in the latest provincial budget.
