2021-22 Report to the Community
Staff and volunteers of the Campus Food Bank at our annual summer bbq.
Welcome!
It has been quite a year at the Campus Food Bank. Amidst COVID-19, rising tuition, out of control inflation, and the stressors of school, our client list has expanded immensely. In 2021-22, we served 106 percent - literally double - the number of hampers that we did the previous year. Our new client intake is up 65 percent. Our volunteers are exhausted. Our clients tell us they need more.
This report details our activities over the last year of operations, from food education and food access programs to our recent client survey results.* It was a year of transition, with a new executive director and outreach manager joining the team, a new look and suite of logos by Emily Chu, an office renovation, expanded programming, and students returning to campus.
Despite the grim reality we face currently, the past year of CFB operations is also a testament to our incredible community of support. Our volunteers are so kind, hard-working, creative, and committed to food justice. Our donors, at all levels, have been incredibly generous and give us the material encouragement to keep up our work. Our campus partners are always checking in and asking how they can help. Even, or perhaps especially, in times of crisis, there is so much love that keeps us going.
Thank you for reading and engaging with this report. If you have any questions or comments, please get in touch.
The Campus Food Bank team
Bukky, Caitlin, Madi, and Erin
*For clarity: our fiscal year of reporting, for the financial statements at the end of this report, is May 1 to April 30. Our annual program reporting is September 1 to August 31.
Meet the Team
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Bukky Ayoola
OUTREACH MANAGER
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Caitlin Chyczij
PROGRAMS MANAGER
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Madi Corry
PROGRAMS MANAGER (on leave)
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Erin O'Neil
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
CFB Board of Directors
Jasmine Elniski
chairperson
John Bowers
secretary/treasurer
Jessica Dugan
volunteer rep
Joannie Fogue
2022-23 SU VP Student Life
Monisha Vinod
2022-23 GSA VP Student Services
Saveta Cartwright
Nate Gartke
Ravina Grewal
Stacy Rogan
Mel Cruikshank
Chaplains rep
non-voting
Thank you to the following board members who concluded their volunteer commitment in 2021-22: Franca Brodett, Natalie Cox, Talia Dixon, Eva Glancy, Trent Harris, Mary Harron, Paresh Kumar, Gary Donald McCorquodale, Samantha Wesch.
A message from CFB’s new executive director
Hello!
I joined the Campus Food Bank on Valentine’s Day 2022, which is appropriate because I fell in love with this job very quickly. If you’ve been involved with the food bank as a volunteer or visited as a client, you know that the people here are welcoming, dedicated, creative, and kind. The work is hard — I couldn’t even guess how many flats of canned chickpeas our staff and volunteers hauled out of the back of the SU van in the last seven months — and challenging, but it feels critically important at this moment.
This report details what the CFB did in our last year of operations. In the current year, we are moving quickly to address an incredible spike in demand: pivoting from a hamper model to a grocery shopping model; expanding our food programs like free breakfasts and our grocery bus service to Campus Saint-Jean; creating a cross-campus network of CFB Snack Stations; building a 24/7 pantry on North Campus; and focusing more on research and advocacy. This food bank has now been in operation for more than 30 years, and that should be unacceptable. In the coming months, we will be engaging our clients in focus groups to better determine which specific policy changes would most materially improve their ability to afford food. We plan to get louder about changing the system, and I hope you will join us.
These are very concerning times, but our little community of CFB staff and volunteers is working dilligently. My hope for 2022-23 is that the CFB can increase partnerships across campus and beyond to better support student food security, and boost conversations about actual policy changes that can improve the financial situation of our clients. A better world is possible. We are committed to pursuing our mission to work and advocate for a UofA where everyone has access to food and food education. If you are interested in partnering, please reach out!
Warmth and solidarity,
erin
Erin O'Neil (she/her)
Executive director | Campus Food Bank
ed@campusfoodbank.com
Our Programs
Supplementary Food Hampers
We continued to offer pick-up appointments for supplementary food hampers after moving away from deliveries in 2021.
Hampers include non-perishable items like canned goods and ready-made meals, perishable items like produce, eggs, and meat, and toiletries.
Grocery Bus
More than 20 students per week used our grocery bus service to access more affordable groceries further from the UofA.
Students take the grocery bus from campus every Saturday morning and can choose to shop at Superstore, T&T Supermarket, or other shops in the South Edmonton Common area.
Campus Kitchens
Our volunteer instructors led dozens of students in cooking affordable, delicious meals like Kimchi Fried Rice and Veggie Chili!
Participants gather in a multipurpose room in Nipisiy House every Thursday evening during fall and winter semester to learn cooking skills and make new friends.
Breakfast Program
We offer free breakfast of fresh fruit, muffins, and granola bars every Wednesday from 8:30 to 10:30 am in SUB, across from SUBmart.
The breakfast program is funded generously by the Cinders Fund at the Edmonton Community Foundation, and will expand to Campus Saint-Jean in 2022-23.
WECAN
The Campus Food Bank is a depot for the WECAN Food Basket Society, a non-profit organization that purchases bulk meat and produce, which individuals can purchase and pick up from depots across the Edmonton area.
Coming in 2022… CFB Snack Stations
We are gradually rolling out small pantries with free, healthy snacks available closer to classrooms and other high student traffic areas.
Thank you to University of Alberta Office of Community Service Learning for their support of the creation of CFB Snack Stations, and to the University Health Centre and Chaplain’s Centre for piloting snack stations this fall!
CFB by the numbers
September 2021 to August 2022
Of the 1,118 unique clients we served, 797 or 71% were new clients.
New client intake is up 65% from the previous year when only 43% were new.In the reporting period, we distributed 4,139 hampers to feed 6,590 individuals.
Hamper distribution is up 106% from 2,009 in the previous year.
Individuals served went up 73% from 3,784.In the reporting period, we distributed 85,198 lbs of food.
Food distribution is up 72% from 49,426 lbs in 20/21.
CFB Client Demographics
Key demographics from our recent client survey:
13.5% of our clients identify as LGBTQIA2S+
Top five categories clients self-identified as: South Asian (23.9%), white (13.8%), Latinx (13.3%), Middle Eastern / North African (12.3%), and East Asian (8.9%). Approximately 3% of our clients identify as First Nations, Métis, or Inuit.
45% of our clients only support themselves (household of one); 25% of our clients are in households of two; and the remaining 30% live in households of between three and eight people. Four percent of our clients are single parents.
59% of our clients are graduate students; 29% are undergraduate; 5% are alumni; 4% are faculty/staff.
68% of our clients are international students; 19% are domestic students.
Faculty distribution: 30% engineering; 19% science; 12% ALES; 11% arts; 6% education; 4% business.
14% of our clients identify as having a chronic disability.
Our recent survey also asked about clients’ experiences related to the food bank:
Top three reasons for using and/or continuing to use the CFB: rising grocery prices (73%), tuition increases (47%), rent increase (42%).
Our hamper program is a supplemental grocery program, but 20% of clients say that they are unable to cover the cost of the rest of their food intake
Anonymous client survey feedback
“As a student I recognize the societal normalization of food insecurity regarding post-secondary students. With rising food costs and the appalling rise in tuition this issue is becoming more and more prominent. The U of A food bank has been an essential program to my survival this year and I know I am not the only one who feels this way.”
Anonymous client survey feedback
“I am always amazed by the warmth of the volunteers working at the Food Bank. I hope that more funding gets directed at the Food Bank so that it may continue to add new items and serve a wider range of students.”
2021-22 Audited Financial Statements
As a registered Canadian charity and a Dedicated Fee Unit of the University of Alberta Students’ Union, we are required to present audited financial statements for our fiscal year. Thank you to Rutwind Brar LLP for their years of partnership in conducting our audit!