Since 2018, the UFV-SUS Food Bank has addressed food insecurity within the UFV student community by providing nutritious food and promoting healthy eating. Food insecurity didn’t go away with the onset of the pandemic – it worsened.  Part-time jobs evaporated as did summer employment opportunities.  Physical distancing restrictions forced the food bank to close. Despite the challenges, UFV-SUS Food Bank successfully pivoted to embrace the new reality by providing grocery gift cards, rather than food hampers, to students needing support. Funded by the Government of Canada, and administered by the United Way of the Lower Mainland, the Emergency Community Support Fund provides for immediate and short-term needs.

“The UFV-SUS Food Bank is truly grateful to the United Way and its Local Love in a Global Crisis initiative. This program has given us the ability to move our in-person model of food hampers to an online e-gift card model. The $25,000 donation allows us to serve students across our UFV community who are struggling as a result of COVID-19 and the financial instability that has come with it.”

Ashley Ward-Hall, Peer Resource and Leadership Coordinator

Yves Trudel, Regional Director of the United Way of the Lower Mainland has noted, “COVID-19 has hit students and learning institutions especially hard. The University of the Fraser Valley is stepping up to support their students facing food insecurity. Feeding 30 people or more every week until March 2021 is a model of what an educational institution can do with a grant from the Emergency Community Support Funds.”

To donate to the UFV-SUS Food Bank, please visit ufv.ca/giving.