2024 Annual Meeting

St. Joseph Food Bank will be holding its annual general meeting on Friday, April 19th, 2024 beginning at 4:30 P.M. in St. Joseph Food Bank building. All are welcome.

A small group (from left to right: Jim Hinds, Mission Community Foundation chair Shelley Carter, St. Joseph’s Food Bank manager Sandra Cascaden, food bank chair Cully Poston and MCF Stephen Evans) gathered on Tuesday (Dec. 19) for a donation of $28,000 from the Mission Community to St. Joseph’s Food Bank. /Mission Record Photo

$28,000 donation will go towards purchase of perishable items to give users nutritious options

The Mission Community Foundation donated $28,000 to St. Joseph’s Food Bank on Tuesday (Dec. 19).

“We are very grateful,” St. Joseph’s Food Bank manager Sandra Cascaden said. “It’s very much needed money. We get lots of food in but we’re really short on the money coming in.”

The funds will go towards food purchasing of perishable, fresh foods that provide families with more nutrition.

“When you go to your kitchen, and you turn on the tap, you get a glass of water. That’s a right — that’s a human right. And you open your fridge there should be food in there. That’s a human right too — it’s a basic need,” Mission Community Foundation board member Stephen Evans says.

Mission Community Foundation chair Shelley Carter says the board voted unanimously to provide the food bank with the donation.

“There’s such a great need for food and helping women and children and we had a lot of assets here. So this was one of the greater amounts that we gave because we know the need is there in the community,” Carter said.

St. Joseph provides its users with hampers that contain roughly 75 pounds of food that usually last between seven and 10 days. Usage is increasing for the food bank, with approximately 10 to 15 new registrations per week, Cascaden says.

“The need is certainly great in Mission as it is across Canada. It’s increasing all the time and I believe the last statistic that I saw was one in four families in Mission come to the food bank. So the money is certainly worthwhile,” St. Joseph’s chair Cully Poston said.

While donations reach a peak during the holiday season, there’s a significant dive from January to April.

“That’s when it becomes very bleak because everything came in before Christmas. Donations drop right off in the new year,” Poston said.

Article taken from the Mission City Record. Written by Dillon White Dec. 25, 2023

St Josephs Food Bank has tremendous purchasing power (every $1 donated is worth effectively $20) and supports so many other extremely important local charities so we can make a huge impact together and if we hit the $20K target it’s really worth $400,000 in help for everyone!

That’s incredible Mission so let’s do this as every dollar matters regardless of how big or small of a donation you can make!

Here is the link to St Josephs Food Bank’s donation page and all you have to do is put “Food Bank Run” on the note line which is important so Sandra Cascaden and staff can track and provide updates and I’ll keep running my butt off on the Greenway and get ready for Feb. 18th! (PS: If you see me don’t pick me up no matter how much I’m crying! )

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Peace, love and health to all….Let’s Go!!!

We are absolutely thrilled to announce the launch of the very first St. Joseph’s Online Auction Fundraiser! This exciting event promises to be a cap–tivating showcase of incredible items and experiences, all aimed at supporting our noble cause. With an array of unique treasures up for bidding, we invite you to join us in this thrilling endeavor, as together, we work towards making a profound difference in the lives of those we serve. Your participation and generosity will play a crucial role in helping us achieve our goals, and we can’t wait to embark on this incredible journey with you. We understand that times have been challenging for many individuals and businesses, but we believe that by coming together as a community, we can make a significant impact. That’s why we are reaching out to request your support in two important ways: by contributing auction items and/or by sponsoring our event. 

2023 has been a tough year. For many, that may be an understatement.

All of us have been impacted by the skyrocketing costs of living and food, especially those who are already struggling with food insecurity in our community. In times like these, I’m in awe of the extraordinary work that countless supporters have put into helping us tackle food insecurity in Mission. We thank everyone involved who is committed to providing healthy food to those who need that extra bit of help during these challenging times.

The expensive cost of living has become the primary reason our clients seek support for our services. This past year we have registered countless new food bank clients.

It’s hard for us to keep up!  Because of this, your support is even more critical now.

According to the annual Hunger Count report created by Food Banks Canada, in March 2023, there were nearly 1.5 million visits to food banks in Canada. Additionally, the number of visits to food banks in British Columbia is increasing even more than the national average.  BC stats?

We distributed nearly 900,000 pounds of food last year and cannot continue to do that without your support and generosity. Creating a Virtual Food Drive allows you to rally your colleagues, friends and family in meaningful, collective action that helps put food into the hands of people in need immediately. Register your Virtual Food Drive today!

St. Joseph’s Food Bank support staff are always available to help you in every step of your fundraising efforts.

What’s the difference between a Virtual Food Drive vs. a donation form?

• A Virtual Food Drive is much more than a place for someone to donate to a particular food bank. It is a platform that allows supporters to raise funds for their chosen food bank.
• In that way the reach is so much greater than that of the food bank directly. Everyone who creates a page to support their food bank can reach dozens or even hundreds of other individuals. Most of whom are not yet connected to the food bank themselves.
• Donors are motivated to give because of the personal relationship with the person asking for support. 1 in 4 people who are asked in this way do make a gift.  That is a very high response.
• The illustration below shows the power and reach of peer-to-peer vs just asking for donations, the green indicating donors. 6 people will make a donation or, if they become fundraisers on the platform, they attract (at an absolute minimum, as an example) 36 donors.