Vancouver Food Runners

VFR ON THE ROAD Two days of connection, listening, and learning at the 2024 Community Food Centres Canada Food Summit in Toronto. 🍏 VFR is Good Food Organization, and we were supported with attending this important national conference on food security and poverty. 🍏 CFCC brought together hundreds of frontline food systems programmers from coast to coast to advance a larger food community movement in the country. 🍏 We got to participate in stimulating workshops, presentations, and discussions as well as sessions on collaboration, advocacy, and mobilization with hands-on breakout conversations. 🍏 Much of the Summit’s focus was spent going deeper, brainstorming, and strategizing around targeted, federal-level solutions to poverty – the root cause of food insecurity. Pictured from left to right: Candy (Food Stash Foundation), Sharon (CityReach Care Society), Carla and Enrik (Food Stash Foundation), and Michelle (Vancouver Food Runners). 🍏 Thank you, CFCC, for a memorable & inspiring event!

SATURDAY SPOTLIGHT💡 This week’s Saturday Spotlight shines a light on Elise, Charlotte, Chloe, Charles, Maddie, and Hayley, some of the young volunteers who participated in VFR’s Summer Kids & Youth Volunteer Program. Launched for its second summer season, the program ran from June 15th to September 15th. During this time, they were tasked with completing 10 food rescues over the summer months — and they did an amazing job! 🥳 Big congratulations to all our kids and youth volunteers — thank you for being outstanding Food Rescue Heroes! 🥳 SNEAK PEEK Elise, 16 years old “My experience so far volunteering for Vancouver Food Runners has been great! I learned about Vancouver Food Runners through a school food rescue trip, and it inspired me to sign up for the No Frills food rescue on Wednesday mornings. I love being able to give back to the community around me and participating in Food Runners makes it so easy to volunteer and make an impact. All of the staff at both No Frills and the South Vancouver Neighbourhood House (SVNH) Food Hub are so accommodating and helpful. Something I learned throughout my volunteer journey is that I can positively impact so many lives with just some small action steps. I will try to fit more food rescues into my schedule and will encourage everyone I know to sign up!” Click the link in our bio to check out the full spotlight👆 https://lnkd.in/g8W5uMRN

WE ♥️ OUR FINANCIAL PARTNERS   With the support of our incredible financial partners, VFR volunteers are on track to deliver 1.5+ million pounds of food in 2024 to support community food programs across Metro Vancouver.   WHY DO OUR FINANCIAL PARTNERS DONATE TO VFR?   🥑 NEW FOOD DONOR PARTNERS: We strategically team up with smaller food businesses, such as hotels, urban farms, catering and meal prep companies, cafeterias, campuses, offices, and even hospitals! These are businesses/institutions that have not historically had a mechanism for surplus food donation, and VFR bridges this gap!   🍉 EQUITABLE FOOD DISTRIBUTION: VFR’s agile volunteer drivers can get food to smaller food distribution sites across the region. This allows for increased food access and more equitable food distribution. In addition, most of our nonprofit partners provide wraparound social services. Over 35,000+ residents reached each month.   🫐 FOCUS ON FRESH FOOD: Our immediate food donor to charity match allows for our focus on fresh, perishable food (over 94% of the food we distribute is fresh and over 50% is produce). 🥦 COMMUNITY AWARENESS & ENGAGEMENT: VFR’s growing team of 3400+ volunteer food drivers registered on the app are active partners in getting surplus food to those in need as well as our allies in increasing awareness around food waste, food insecurity, and sustainability. Food waste is often an invisible issue, but volunteers immediately see how much food they are rescuing (in 2024, the average rescue is 185 pounds) and how they are making a difference to their community.   🥕 COST-EFFECTIVE: Through VFR’s use of technology and partnering with dedicated volunteer drivers, we can keep our program costs very low. 95% of dollars go directly to program costs (only 5% to admin). 🍏 DATA-DRIVEN: The VFR app tracks all our metrics (e.g., pounds of food delivered, type of food, CO2eq mitigated) – critical data points to measure impact and refine our program.   ❓To learn more about becoming a financial partner, email: michelle@vancouverfoodrunners.com

SUPPORTING THE NONPROFIT SECTOR Did you know that 88% of the organizations VFR volunteers deliver food donations to provide additional supportive services? At VFR, we strategically team up with nonprofit organizations providing comprehensive, wraparound social services for the community. Our goal is to get healthy, fresh food donations to nonprofits that are making a difference in people’s live – in the neighbourhoods where community members live. For client programming to be successful, underlying food insecurity must be addressed. So far this year, 157 nonprofits and community organizations across Metro Vancouver have received food donations through VFR’s program. Check out the types of critical social services our incredible partner organizations are providing: 🌟 66% seniors programming 🌟 53% arts & cultural programming 🌟 50% youth programming 🌟 47% mental health services 🌟 45% skills training 🌟 34% health services 🌟 34% daycare/child programming 🌟 32% housing/shelter It’s an honour to support the essential frontline social services work happening across the region each and every day.

📣 SHAPE YOUR CITY: HAVE YOUR SAY ABOUT THE CITY OF VAN 2025 BUDGET Each year, City of Vancouver staff prepare an annual operating and capital budget for City Council to consider. The City of Vancouver is now seeking public input on where they should spend tax dollars as well as ideas on how to balance the budget. Food security is a growing issue from the local to the global as our food systems are increasingly under pressure. For many people in Vancouver, the cost of living and food inflation is driving high rates of food insecurity. Unfortunately, food systems work is underfunded at the municipal level. Right now, only 0.03% of the City of Vancouver’s Operating Budget supports our vital food systems. Let’s change that and make food security a budget priority! Have your voice heard and help us make food security a City of Vancouver budget priority in 2025 by taking a few minutes to complete the survey: ✅ Go to shapeyourcity.ca/budget ✅ Add “Food Security” to your top 3 City of Vancouver budget priorities The survey closes on Monday, September 16 . Thank you for supporting local food security! Click the link in below to take the survey!

💡 This week’s Spotlight shines a light on Clarissa Dixon, VFR’s program coordinator for logistics and partnerships. With a background in sociology and work experience in philanthropy and digital learning, Clarissa brings a wealth of knowledge to her role with VFR. INTERVIEW SNEAK PEEK VFR: Clarissa, tell us about yourself! What were you up to before you joined VFR? ❓Clarissa: Before I joined VFR, I completed a bachelor’s degree in Sociology at UBC. My primary areas of study included social determinants of health and gender studies, as well as English literature. During my undergrad I also completed internships through UBC, mostly in the space of instructional design and digital learning. After completing my undergraduate degree, I went on to work in the philanthropic area, and then ended up at VFR! Now, as program coordinator with VFR, I organize the daily food rescues and routes and ensure that volunteers receive the support they need during their food rescues. Another aspect of my role is food donation matching. When a food donor contacts VFR about a donation, I match that food with a nonprofit partner that can utilize it in their programs or services. In the fall, my role will shift somewhat, and I will focus more on developing and supporting partnerships and working directly with nonprofit partners to ensure we identify the food donations that are best suited for their programs and clients. Click the link in below to check out this week's newsletter! https://lnkd.in/g5aNygAY

TEAMING UP WITH UBC This summer, we have been working with Betty and Lauriel (pictured in the middle), two Master of Food and Resource Economic students through the UBC Faculty of Land and Food Systems. We are so grateful for their support with two feedback surveys they conducted for their final projects. NONPROFIT PARTNER SURVEY Betty implemented a VFR Nonprofit Partner Survey to gather information about the food programs nonprofit partners operate and their specific needs and challenges; how VFR has impacted their food programs; and the clients they work with and the barriers their clients face accessing food in Metro Vancouver. FOOD DONOR SURVEY Lauriel oversaw a VFR Food Donor Survey (plus in-depth interviews with food businesses) to assess the impact of VFR’s food recovery program as well as the motivations, benefits, and challenges that food donors experience when participating in food recovery efforts. NEXT STEPS These findings are important as they: ✅ Monitor and evaluate VFR’s impact ✅ Provide insights that guide program planning, expansion, and improvements
✅ Help partners develop their own programs (findings will be shared with partners); and
✅ Will be used to advocate for positive systems changes with government and industry Congratulations on the completion of your degrees, Betty & Lauriel 🎉

👩🍳 👨🍳 TACKLING SURPLUS FOOD IN HOTELS In collaboration with the JW Marriott Parq Vancouver and FoodMesh, we organized a workshop for hotel and hospitality professionals on food waste prevention. It was great to connect with food industry leaders, engage with and learn from local chefs, and share about how food recovery and food waste prevention programs (like BetterTable.ca) can have a positive impact. We dove into several topics: ✅ Perceived barriers to food donation & how to overcome them ✅ Food recovery logistics ✅ Positive impacts of food waste prevention (environment, cost savings, increasing team morale, and community value); and ✅ How the next generation of chefs and food industry professionals are starting to demand food waste prevention strategies We even got a tour of the JW Marriott Parq Vancouver kitchen, getting an insider look at their food waste prevention practices and resources. Big thanks to Executive Chef Kunal Dighe of the JW Marriott Parq for hosting this fun and informative event. If you are a hotel or hospitality professional, connect to learn more: adelyn@vancouverfoodrunners.com / 236-471-4728

WEEKEND SPOTLIGHT💡 This week’s Spotlight features Betty (Xu Yan), a master’s student at UBC specializing in Food and Resource Economics, who is completing her master’s project with VFR this summer. With a passion for food systems, Betty’s journey began as a self-proclaimed “foodie” who loves to cook and bake. Over time, her curiosity evolved into a research interest, leading her to explore the intricate connections between food origins, production, and healthier choices. SNEAK PEEK ❓VFR: You’ve gathered a lot of data through VFR’s 2024 Nonprofit Partner Survey. What are some of the key challenges nonprofits are experiencing? Betty: The data highlights that budget constraints are the primary challenge for nonprofits, with “limited budget to operate food programs,” as their top concern.    Over the past three years, economic barriers have heightened, making it more difficult for Metro Vancouver residents to access food on a regular basis.   As a result, the demand for food services has surged, with organizations reporting an average 75% increase in the number of clients served. Despite nonprofits extending service hours, offering more meals (a 70% increase in meals provided), and expanding their capacity by partnering with other organizations, the community demand continues to outpace organizational resources. This has even forced some organizations to turn people away due to limited capacity.    Budget constraints also create a ripple effect, leading to staff shortages and high turnover rates. In addition, limited staff makes it challenging to focus on complex grant applications and secure stable funding, perpetuating the cycle of financial strain.    But, throughout this project, what has surprised me the most is the incredible resilience and adaptability of the nonprofit organizations that VFR works with.    Even in the face of challenge, such as funding shortages, infrastructure limitations, and growing demand, they have extended service hours, developed new programs, and expanded their service areas. Their dedication is truly inspiring, and it demonstrates the power of community-driven efforts. Click the link below for the full article 👇 https://lnkd.in/dRE6bk9t

HEADING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION Adelyn, VFR’s program manager for partnerships and expansion (on the right), recently had the chance to visit Directions Youth Services, one of VFR’s main partners. Directions Youth Services supports some of the region’s most vulnerable youth. These young people may come from low-income families; have experienced sexual, physical, or emotional abuse and neglect; or struggle with addiction. At Directions, meals are often an entry point for youth to receive support. They come in for food and then staff gets the chance to connect with them. From there, they can refer them to other resources, like their overnight shelter, 2SLGBTQIA+ programming, health clinic, or financial empowerment. Between 2023-24, Directions saw an upward trend in the need for food and support: ⬆️ 27% increase in the number of young people accessing the Drop-In Centre
⬆️ 18% increase in the number of hot meals they served
⬆️ 23% increase in visits to their Youth Pantry This is where VFR (and our incredible volunteers) come in! So far this year, VFR volunteers have dropped off 15,200 pounds of food to Directions, allowing the team there to better serve their clients and reduce their overall food costs.