Donate to Fresh to Families this Giving Tuesday
Quadruple your impact this Giving Tuesday!
We believe fresh, local food should be accessible to everyone, regardless of income. Our Fresh to Families Fund helps to bridge that gap by providing fresh, local food from BC farms and producers to newly arrived refugees, lower income families and at-risk new and expectant mothers in our community.
But it’s more than that, because of the Fresh to Families Fund, not only do families in need get to buy fresh, healthy, local food but our local farmers reap the benefits too!
Always a double impact project, this Giving Tuesday, December 1, we’re going exponential: the awesome folks at Horizon Grocery + Wellness, Renewal Partners, Rockweld Farm Renewal Funds, Earnest Ice Cream, UBC Land and Food Systems, and Klippers Organic Acres helped us raise $13,500 in matching funds to help feed families in need.
Not only will your donation be matched dollar for dollar, each Fresh to Families coupon dollar feeds families with fresh, healthy food, while also benefiting local farmers, who get the full value of each coupon.
If we match each pledged dollar, we’ll raise $27,000 for fresh food coupons for families in need. That’s $27,000 in food for families and $27,000 in revenue for local farmers
Double the donations x double the benefits = quadruple the impact
What your donations mean:
The Fresh to Families program relies on sponsors and people like you!
- A $25 donation brings a family to the farmers markets one time
- A $100 donation brings a family to the market for an entire month
- A $400 donation brings a family to the market for an entire market season -June to October
How to donate:
- Donating is easy! Simply click here to access our Vancity donation page.
- Click ‘Give to this fund’ & enter your card details.
- Donations of $20 or more will receive an official tax receipt.
Learn more about our partners in the below Q & A’s
Healthiest Babies Possible
Q & A with Michelle Chow, Food Skills Support Worker
Healthiest Babies Possible is a prenatal outreach program that provides nutrition counselling, health education, food access and social support to pregnant women facing challenging life circumstances in Vancouver and Richmond. We are made up of a team of dietitians, public health nurses and support workers fluent in a variety of different languages.
How many families benefit from the Fresh to Families (FTF) coupons? 124
Why is Fresh to Families so important to your clients? FTF provides our clients with access to fresh, local, fruits and vegetables. Many of our clients are low income and struggle with food insecurity so they may not have otherwise been able to access the farmers markets. Our clients are always so appreciative of this opportunity to eat foods that are in season and also support local growers. It also gives our clients an opportunity to connect with their community, talk to local farmers and learn where their food comes from.
How did COVID-19 impact your program and how did FTF coupons help your community? COVID-19 had a significant impact on our program, especially in terms of food security. Most of our clients are low income and were already dealing with food insecurity prior to COVID-19, but the pandemic exacerbated the problem. Clients typically got to enjoy a lunch at the community centre after their health education group and were able to pick up food donations such as fresh fruits and vegetables. However, because of COVID-19, we had to close our groups and thus limit access to these food supports. We have transitioned to offering emergency food hampers, but the FTF coupons really helped provide our clients with additional food supports.
Any highlights from this season?
The biggest highlight was being able to offer a virtual cooking class where we discussed how to cook vegetables that clients may not be familiar with from the farmer’s market such as sea asparagus, kohlrabi, and garlic scapes. Clients received kits with the ingredients to cook along during the session and together we made a delicious bibimbap. After the session, clients gained the confidence to purchase and try out new vegetables that they could now buy with their farmers market coupons.
MOSAIC
Q & A with Joanne Chen, Manager, Children and parenting programs and youth
MOSAIC is one of the largest settlement non-profit organizations in Canada. We serve immigrant, refugee, migrant and mainstream communities in Greater Vancouver and the Fraser Valley as well as throughout the province of BC and overseas via online programs. We have established programs for vulnerable children and families since 1998. Currently, we have four children and family-related programs for vulnerable families with children 0-6 years old and youth.
How many families benefit from the Fresh to Families coupons? 50
Why is FTF so important to your participants? Many families with limited income have been struggling to pay for fresh produce. It becomes even more challenging with increasing food costs during pandemic while many parents lost their employment. FTF gives participants the resources to buy very fresh produces and healthy food to feed their young families.
How did COVID-19 impact your program and how did FTF coupons help your community? We have been flexible to adapt our services remotely or provide a hybrid of in-person and remote services. We have also been able to offer donated reusable cloth masks to vulnerable families. Many parents have lost their employment due to the pandemic, and with increased food costs, many young families need to choose between buying food and paying their utility. FTF helps many families to be able to purchase fresh produce and healthy food that has been pushed down the priority during the pandemic.
Any highlights from this season? With the pandemic concerns and restrictions, we didn’t know if we could still pull it off, but we did! Participants made it and adapted to new protocols to keep themselves and others safe. Many participants have shared FTF is how they can buy fresh produce that they have become unable to afford and how much they appreciate having this support.
Circles of Care and Connections Early Years Refugee Program
Q & A with Theresa Tang, Program Manager
The Circles of Care and Connection Early Years Refugee Program provides the following early childhood development, family support and settlement services to refugee families with children from birth to six years of age:
- Information & orientation – services provided to newcomer families and children upon their arrival at ISS Welcome House.
- Outreach/home visiting services to refugee families with children (0-6) settled in Vancouver provide coaching and modeling, parenting techniques and support the developmental needs of children, addressing the immediate concerns of parents in order to decrease their stress and increase their capacity to respond to family needs. This support also provides connection to early intervention services, which will improve readiness for school.
- Community Connections through partnerships with Strong Starts (VSB), Family Places, Neighbourhood Houses, Libraries and other community agencies, programs (Fresh to Families/BC Farmers Market Nutrition Coupon Program), and services.
How many families benefit from the Fresh to Families (FTF) coupons? 48
Why is FTF so important to your participants?
It supports our low income families regarding food security and nutritional programming. They also are given the opportunity to access fresh, locally farmed produce, while giving them a choice on what items that want to feed their family. It also gives the families a sense of community and belonging. Since the pandemic, we have shifted our Home Visiting Program to curbside visits and communication has moved online (text, phone, email, video chat). Most of our families live below the poverty line and experience food security issues. The average family has 5 members and it continues to grow as families continue to expand their household. These FTF coupons assisted our families to temporarily address these food security issues and alleviate some financial stresses.
To donate to the Fresh to Families Fund, click here.
To become a Fresh to Families corporate sponsor, click here.
Thank you to our Fresh to Families matching fund partners!
