Since launching the campaign to raise $100,000, the four food banks on the Sunshine Coast have received $75,000 in donations and pledges.
“We are overwhelmed and grateful for the generosity of Sunshine Coast residents and businesses,” said Carey Rumba, Sunshine Coast Community Services’ manager responsible for food programming. “We are particularly thankful for the efforts of the local real estate community.”
Local realtors have pledged or contributed $25,000 to the food bank drive.
“We live in a very generous community,” said Darrell Pilgrim, director of the Salvation Army Ministry in Gibsons. “It’s wonderful to see people who are prepared to share their own good fortune with others who are vulnerable.”
Launched on June 11, the Coast Wide Food Bank Drive set a goal of raising $100,000 by July 15. The gifts received will be divided among the four food banks operated on the Coast by Community Services, the Salvation Army, St. Bart’s Anglican Church, and the Pender Harbour Food Bank Society. Collectively, these four organizations help to ensure that individuals and families that are struggling with the impacts of COVID-19, poverty, and the high costs of living do not go hungry.
The Sunshine Coast Foundation is supporting the campaign. It is receiving all donations and issuing tax receipts. The foundation and the four food banks have partnered to establish a permanent endowment that will provide a sustainable source of revenue for local food banks in the coming years and decades.
“While 90 per cent of gifts that we receive are flowing directly back to the food banks, they have agreed to dedicate 10 per cent toward a permanent endowment held by the Foundation,” said foundation board chair Manjit Kang.
The foundation also contributed $5,000 from its own funds to the endowment. It will invest this endowment and use the earnings to make future grants to the food banks. “Over time, this will accumulate into something significant that will generate future grants to support food bank services,” Kang said.
To make a gift, please visit www.coastwidefoodbankdrive.ca.
