1 9 81 – 200 1

• Ed m ont on’s Fo o d B a nk •

2 0 t h An ni ve r s a r y

Kathryn A. Ivany

Sharing the Harvest

Food, the most essential of necessities, is the

first victim of inadequate income.

—Two Paycheques Away, December, 1996

Charity sees the need,not the cause.—German Proverb

Tornado victims have received nearly 11,000 kgsof foodstuffs since the July 31 disaster.

—Edmonton Sun, September 9, 1987Ensuring that children who

are hungry are fed is not

only the “right thing to do”

but is also good social and

economic policy. Any

investment to ensure that

children develop properly is

an investment which surely

returns dividends... which is

in every citizen’s interest.

—Feed the Children:

A Report on Child Hunger

in Calgary, Spring, 1999

Food Banks can be poverty’s bestaccomplice... It’s easier to stuff abrown paper bag full of charitygroceries, for example, than to hire awelfare recipient or phone a cabinetminister to complain aboutinadequate social benefits.

—Edmonton Journal Editorial December 29, 1989

The Heritage Festival is typically thebiggest single drive of the year forthe food bank. Last year donationstopped 47,000 kilos.

— Edmonton JournalAugust 3, 1998

While this is a book about our history, the work of Edmonton’s Food Bank continues.

Christmas and every day, Edmonton’s Food Bank struggles to meet the need. The following

are some of the many ways that you can help the Food Bank:

Donate Money

Edmonton’s Food Bank is a registered charity. Monetary donations are

essential for our operations and food purchases.

Donate Food

Look for our donation bins at City of Edmonton Fire Stations, major

grocery stores and specific community events.

Volunteer

Volunteers are essential to our mission. A variety of volunteer

opportunities exist including reception, hamper packing, driving and

assisting individuals and families requesting food.

Organize or Host an Event

Events and fundraisers can include collecting food or money at your

business, school or church. Functions can also include dinners and

auctions. Please give us a call to find out more about helping to feed

Edmonton’s Food Bank.

Remember that hunger has an appetite and it won’t be denied. It consumes self respect,

swallows the spirit and feeds on indifference. You see hunger in a child’s eyes. Hear it in a

baby’s cry. Feel it in a senior’s hand. Food is our most fundamental need. Yet for some, eating

three meals a day is a luxury. Changing that reality requires commitment—a commitment of

ongoing, active concern. That is a recipe for a renewed society.

CONTACT:

Edmonton Gleaners Association

Edmonton’s Food Bank

10218–111 Street

Edmonton, Alberta

Mailing Address:

P.O. Box 3866

Edmonton, Alberta

T5L 4K1

Phone:

(780) 425-4190

Main Switchboard

(780) 425-2133

Administration

Fax:

(780) 426-1590

A Call to Action

Poverty and hunger have been constants in human societies from the earliest eras of recorded history—and probably before. The City of Edmonton has a history ofproviding food and welfare “relief” from at least the turn of the 20th century. Manylocal churches assisted with food securityas part of their “mission” to the native andnewly arrived immigrant populations inthe area.

Those efforts were seen as temporarysolutions and as exceptional circumstancesaffecting a minority of individuals. In the20-year period in which the EdmontonGleaners Association has been operating,the perceptions of the poverty and foodsecurity issues facing Edmontonians havechanged radically. Corresponding efforts toaddress those issues, therefore, have had tochange as well.

The work of the Association began in1980 from contacts made in the socialservices agencies, mostly working inEdmonton’s inner city neighbourhoods.Common problems were identified.Teachers needed lunch supplies to helpkids concentrate enough to learn. Thecity’s shelters for the homeless, runaway,or thrown-away children and victims ofdomestic violence wondered how to feedthe individuals and families who appearedat their doors. Clergy and social workersin churches and social agencies daily metfamilies on welfare who couldn’t maketheir assistance cheques stretch to coverall the food costs in a month.

At the same time, in a society that wasbecoming aware of the vast amounts ofwaste created by our pro-consumerattitudes, the excesses of thefood industry seemed toprovide a possiblesolution— if a methodcould be developed toharness the potential. The idea of gleaning thesurplus, or waste products,to feed those without the resources to feedthemselves dates frombiblical times and before.Farmers would allowtheir poor neighbours—who did not have land—to follow after theharvesters and pick up grains that hadfallen to the ground.

In April of 1980, two individuals met atSacred Heart Church to see what could bedone in Edmonton to reconcile those twoemerging trends. In June, they:

• invited 15 representatives of variousagencies in Edmonton to brainstorm on the next step

• formed an ad hoc committee and

• decided to bring Bob McCarty, director of St. Mary’s Food Bank in Phoenix,Arizona, to Edmonton to advise them.Established in 1967, this was the first food bank in the United States.

A History of Hunger

Section 1

“The Gleaners”By Jean-Francois

Millet

Next they formalized their organization,deciding on the name the EdmontonGleaners Association instead of food bankfor incorporation purposes, because of theconnection that people might make withfinancial institutions.

In 1981, the Edmonton association was thefirst gleaning operation to be established inCanada. Before its second year wascomplete, members were receiving requestsfrom cities and towns across the country for information on how to set up a gleaning

program. By 1988,with nurturing fromthe EdmontonGleaners Association,the CanadianAssociation of FoodBanks, a nationalumbrella organizationwas formed and now providesadministration tohandle large corporatedonations and anational distributionsystem.

The Edmonton Gleaners Association’soriginal mandate was to salvage foodproducts deemed “waste” by the local food industry and redistribute to memberagencies that offered snack or mealprograms. By 1983, however, as the publicawareness of the Food Bank increased andthe situation of many of the city’s poorestcitizens worsened, the Association found

itself on the front lines, providingemergency food hampers to individualsand families.

This change of organizational focus forcedupon the agency quickly started a variety ofinternal and external studies. As the Boardof Directors, their community partners, andtheir member agencies assessed the causesof the new demands on the Food Bank,they resolved to take a more public stancein defence of their clients’ rights. Whilethey were not alone in this stand, they werenot always popular.

The issues of individuals’ food security andthe role that private versus governmentagencies should play in those issues grewinto one of the most politically chargeddebates of the next decade. By the mid-1990s, both American and Canadiangleaning organizations were takingstronger advocacy roles on behalf of thepeople they help feed. Their effortsstretched to include education of thegeneral public about poverty and foodsecurity issues as well as education of theirclients about how to access the programsfrom which they were entitled to receiveassistance and how to meet theirnutritional needs more effectively.

Food Bank Volunteers1983

The need for the Edmonton "Food Bank" arose from two conflicting but virtually unknown facts of our

society.Large quantities of perfectly good,edible food are wasted every single day,perhaps as much as

15 per cent of the huge volume which wends its way though the agricultural and commercial production

and distribution systems.At the same time even wealthy,modern cities such as Edmonton are the sites for

a continuing ordeal of hardship on the part of charitable agencies to provide food relief for many hundreds

of hungry and disadvantaged people,on a scale that strains their resources to the utmost.There is an inevitable

logic at work then behind an effort that seeks to reconcile these two incompatible elements,of excess natural

riches with unnecessary human misery.The conduit between the two,the Edmonton "Food Bank," through

its experience and operations,has found a wealth of good will and generosity which exists in Edmonton.

— 1983 "Interim Review"

“The Gleaners”By Alexander Mann

After the initial organizational efforts in1980, the Coordinating Committee was able to complete the paperwork (includingcreating the Bylaws and Constitution)required for incorporation of the EdmontonGleaners Association by January 1981. The first Board of Directors was nominated,and held its first board meeting on January26. They rented a warehouse on FultonRoad and secured a $1,000 donation fromLocal Union 488 Plumbers and Pipefitterswhich, with other anonymous donations,allowed them to start operations.

By April, the Association had a membershipof 14 organizations, most of which hadsnack and meal programs that couldbenefit from the gleaning activities. A morepermanent space was required, so letterswere sent to the federal government andlocal Members of Parliament as well as tolocal school boards asking for permanentstorage space.

The Board sought charitable registration with the City of Edmonton so they would be able to solicit donations from the public.After receiving approval in October, theFundraising Committee approached serviceclubs and foundations. The CommunicationsCommittee developed a brochure (the designand printing were offered free) to be used forpublic education and fund raising.

Bob McCord of CISN Radio suggested a “Radiothon” in 1982 as a first publicfundraising event for the Food Bank. Its success soon meant that having a food“blitz” became a popular way for church

youth groups, service clubs, and communitygroups to help the Food Bank. Probably the most successful food drive in the firstthree years was “Tackle the Hunger,” whichcollected a record number (45,000) of cansat an Edmonton Eskimos football game.The event created a high level of publicawareness, received good media coverage,and was a great opportunity to provideintensive public education.

The Strathcona Food Bank was establishedand linked with the Edmonton GleanersAssociation in the fall of 1982. By the endof 1983, the Gleaners Association had atotal of 72 members. A full time Coordinator,Gerard Kennedy, was hired to supervisestaff and volunteers and the Board ofDirectors was kept very busy gleaningfood, making proposals to foundationsand funding agencies, andensuring the efficientoperation of thewarehouse anddistribution systems.

The work of spreadingthe word about theGleaners was helped inMay, 1983 whenACCESS-TV aired afilm on the Food Bankmade with agencyparticipation. Anapplication to join theUnited Way was made inMay. It was accepted in July with the firstallocation of $60,000 to begin in January,1984. Another result of fundraising

A History of the Edmonton Gleaners Association

Section 2

activity came in December, 1985 when theWild Rose Foundation granted money fora new van to collect food donations.

After almost 3 years with the EdmontonGleaners Association, Gerard Kennedy left

the position ofCoordinator in1986 to take asimilar positionwith the TorontoDaily Bread FoodBank. Brian Bechtelstarted in June as the new ExecutiveDirector. The Boardalso hired anEmergency ProgramCoordinator to assistwith redesigning theHamper Program inlight of the record

demand. In August the Program wassubmitted to the United Way for funding.

The increasing demand for emergencyhampers in 1986 affected the GleanersAssociation’s ability to carry out itsoriginal mandate of gleaning andredistributing surplus food products soseriously that the Board considered aresolution to cease accepting “walk-ins” at the central warehouse in January, 1987.A further complication arose in July whena tornado struck the city. Emergency foodsupplies projects were carried out inconjunction with the Emergency ReliefServices Society and the Salvation Army.Late in the year, Marjorie Bencz, a former

volunteer, was hired as a temporary“Support Worker” to assist with thehamper program and in 1988 became the Hamper Program Coordinator.

The first “mail-out” campaign forEdmonton’s Food Bank occurred in1989 and by all measures wassuccessful. The letters for supportgenerated $100,000 in financial aid and 96,000 kg of food. The Board ofDirectors also undertook some strategicplanning for their future and helped toorganize and raise funds for the AlbertaFood Bank Conference to facilitate aregional network. Staff changes in 1989included hiring a Fund Raising andPublic Education Coordinator tosupport the new committee of the samename arising out of the strategicplanning. Marjorie Bencz was promotedto the position of Executive Directorafter Brian Bechtel left to work withCanadian Mental Health Association.

The issue of the legitimacy of Food Bankswas raised again in a year of “unprecedentedquestioning.” The Edmonton GleanersAssociation responded with the followingpowerful commitment: “Until such time asgovernments fulfill their responsibilities, itwas agreed that food banks must continueto operate, to salvage waste, to feed thepoor, to speak up clearly on behalf of clientsand to uphold in both thought andoperation a conception of the intrinsic valueand dignity of those served.”

Tackle the Hungerfood Drive

“…no person within Alberta

will lack the goods and

services essential to health

and well-being…”

— Introductory quotation from

the Social Development Act

(section 2, page 3)

As the Food Bank marked its 10th

anniversary year, the Edmonton GleanersAssociation ambiguously took note of their accomplishments and the fact that the association was still required in thecommunity. Its food and monetarydonations were increasing and, with thenew advocacy and supplemental hamperprograms, emergency demand had slowed,giving the staff and volunteers a welcomebreak from the pressure. It gave theorganization time to evaluate a new centralscreening project designed to assistmember groups and churches that operatedthe remote depots. Accomplishments overthe previous decade were noted withmeasures such as a 33 per cent largerhamper, with better nutritional balance,being provided. The cumulative total offood collected was calculated as 5,754metric tonnes.

The 1990s, however, were not to continuequietly. Federal policies such as theintroduction of the Goods and Services Taxdirectly affected the purchasing power oflower-income Canadians. Reform of theUnemployment Insurance program andreductions or restructuring of transferpayments affected many social programs atthe provincial level. Social Assistance rates,which had been adjusted upwards in thelate 1980s, were again subject to reductionsby 1993. This time shelter rates were cut.The Food Bank recorded a 103 per centincrease in Food Bank hamper demandbetween November 1992 and 1993.Luckily, donations continued to exceedprevious record levels.

By 1995 the benchmark of 100 memberagencies had been reached. 60,000 hours of community volunteer services weredonated in that year as well as recordamounts of food. In light of the 122 percent increase in demand from January1995 to 1996, which showed no sign ofabating, the Edmonton GleanersAssociation did more strategic planningand produced a document entitledDirections 2000. Those goals includedincreasing food supplies, publicawareness, and public support. They alsovowed to continue advocating on behalf oftheir clients and on improving their accessto services.

In real terms that translated into growingnumbers of depots (30 by 1997) aroundthe city capable ofdistributing hampersto 16,000 people eachmonth. In 1999, theFood Bank wassupplying 85 meal andsnack programs as wellas the hamper program.

Heritage Festival Food drive • 1987

The first home of theEdmonton GleanersAssociation was the Princeof Wales Armouries at10440–108 Avenue. This served as the FoodBank’s main warehousefrom July 1, 1981 until1985. Initially tworooms were rented for$330 per month withthe Associationresponsible for the

installation of a cold room and storageracks. In September 1981, the Board ofHealth issued a health certificate andCharitable Appeals Board gave permission tosolicit food. Humans on Welfare sold an oldvan of theirs to the Gleaners (for $1) and afurther donation of $10,000 from LocalUnion 488 in October really set theorganization on its feet.

When the Prince of Wales Armouries had tobe vacated, in 1985, the Board of Directorsstarted the search for another facility. Manylocations in the City’s inventory and inprivate hands were investigated. The finaldecision was made in favour of the closedSafeway store at 9020 Jasper Avenue.Safeway remained the owner of the propertyand supported the Gleaners Association interms of assisting with renovations andrestocking of shelves as well as the generous$10 a month rent. The lease was signed inNovember and renovations carried out overthe winter, so that the move was made withlittle disruption of service in March, 1986.

The Safeway facility was highly suitable forEdmonton’s Food Bank. It was easilyaccessible and visible. For almost threeyears the Food Bank flourished in theirJasper Avenue location. However, highlydesirable property is eventually sold and inSeptember, 1988, the Facilities Committeeagain went in search of suitable properties.

The next relocation occurred in November,1989, when the Food Bank CentralWarehouse moved to 10218–111 Street.The Facilities Committee obtained a short-term lease in a warehouse with good accessfor both delivery vehicles and those usingthe transit system. Canada Safeway,Gateway Refrigeration, and Anawim Placesupported the Gleaners Association with themove. The building was smaller and lessexpensive and the volunteers and staffquickly adjusted to the new quarters.

In 1994, a sizeable legacy gift from the Ricefamily, who had been long-time supportersof Edmonton’s Food Bank, allowed theBoard of Directors to establish a buildingreserve fund. After the Facilities Committeehad again searched the city and investigated20 alternative locations, it recommendedthat the Board purchase the 111th Streetproperty with a portion of the Rice Legacy.The landlord, Avenor Inc., also made asignificant donation to assist with thepurchase. The remaining Rice Legacy willensure that future building maintenanceneeds are met.

Storing the Food

Prince of WalesArmouries • 1981-83

The first efforts to identify sources ofreclaimable food began early in 1981.Suppliers to retailers and wholesalers wereapproached to request anything that wasunmarketable, although still edible. Severalof the large suppliers in the city includingfarmers and market gardeners werereceptive. In the first years of Food Bankoperations the statistics reflected that 75 percent of food came from gleaned sources,that is from surplus perishable food donatedby the food industry. Eighty-five per cent ofthat food was distributed to food programsand 15 per cent to the hamper program.

A perennial problem for the foodreclamation project was the reliability and capacity of the van used for pick-ups. In September of 1984 a larger van waspurchased. The Wild Rose Foundation in1985 provided funds for a new van.

By 1986, the Food Bank still reported thatclose to 70 per cent of the food donatedcame through their reclamation efforts. The big change, however, was that, insteadof going to agencies’ meal and snackprograms, almost 70 per cent of the fooddonated was redistributed in the form ofemergency hampers.

In 1988, the Board of Directors of theEdmonton Gleaners Association faced a new concern when they found foodreclamation efforts were netting about 6.6 per cent less food than in previous years.The Board devised a strategy to identify andapproach new suppliers within the foodindustry, and with the assistance of the

Muttart Foundation in 1989 began toincrease gleaning efforts. By 1990, theirefforts paid off. The fall 1989-1990 GleaningProject reported a 23.6 per cent increase infood donations.

In 1995, the implementation of the FoodRecovery Program collected surplus cookedand fresh food from restaurants and hotels.This food was redistributed to charitablefood programs in member agencies. Specialrequirements for food handling and storagemade this project more complex than otherfood reclamation.Permission to proceed withthe project wasaccomplished with strongliaison with the Board ofHealth, safe food handlingtraining for staff andvolunteers, and specialequipment (like arefrigerated truck)provided through fundingfrom the Winspear, WildRose and EdmontonCommunityFoundations.

Since 1996, the Food Bank has applied forand been granted waivers by the CapitalHealth Authority in order that theorganization may accept and distribute wildgame, specifically mule and white tail deer.This program is called Alberta HuntersWho Care by the volunteers whocoordinate it. These waivers have containedup to twenty conditions including specificdirections regarding storage times,

Reclaiming Surplus Food

Safeway Warehouse1986-89

Distributing the Food: Hamper Programs

processing, testing, documentation andhandling of the deer from the time it isharvested until it is served in a soup kitchenor shelter. While there are similar programsoperating in other provinces and most ofthe United States, Edmonton’s Food Bank isthe only organization in Alberta operatingsuch a program.

The Plant a Row—Grow a RowProject was initiallystarted in Winnipegin 1985 and came toEdmonton in 1998.The EdmontonHorticultural Societyand Edmonton’s FoodBank sponsor thisprogram in Edmontonand area that inviteslocal gardeners to growan extra row ofvegetables, or earmark

extra fruit and vegetables for donation toEdmonton’s Food Bank. In 2000, theprogram became national with sponsorshipof the Canadian Association of Food Banks,the Composting Council of Canada and theGarden Writers’ Association of America.

Depots

The first depot opened in April, 1984 at the Thorncliffe Shopping Centre as aregional drop-off and hamper sorting area.This allowed the public to have convenientlocations to make donations and providedrecipients easier access for picking uphampers. By November a second depot wasopened in a Mill Woods school and theAssociation was trying to identify anappropriate site for a third depot in the city’snortheast. The Grant MacEwan CommunityCollege Mill Woods Campus provided moresuitable space the following year.

At the same time that regional depots werebeing developed, churches and communitygroups around the city undertook toprovide pick-up opportunities for clients of the Food Bank who did not live in theinner city. By 1983 as demand for hampersincreased, the percentage of clients outsideof the inner city rose to 65 per cent. Foodsecurity issues were now recognized as acity-wide phenomenon. These food pantriesor cupboards were run by volunteers andhad specific days and hours of operation.Their volunteers handled the “screening” of requests for hampers and, using theguidelines established by the GleanersAssociation, filled hampers for theirneighbourhood clients.

By 1986, however, the increasing demandswere starting to cause volunteer burnout inthese community-based groups, sappingtheir energy and their resources. To address

Scouts • 1995

During 1983 the Food Bank’s

hamper program alone

increased by 700 per cent in

terms of people fed. By October

1984 the total amount of

emergency food being

distributed was five times what

it had been in January 1983.

– from Hunger in our City:

A question of Responsibility, 1985

the first issue of “burn-out,” the Boardinvestigated and implemented a plan toorganize larger decentralized depots thatcould combine the resources and volunteersof several smaller group or church programs.The second issue of growing dependence ofsome of the clients demanded a newprogram that could address the otherunderlying reasons for long-term foodsecurity problems. This was the start of theSupplemental Hamper Program.

Emergency Hampers

At first the Edmonton Gleaners Associationgleaned surplus food for meal and snackprograms offered in the member agencies.Very quickly, however, it became obviousthat there were people who neededemergency food supplies—because they did not qualify for social assistance orbecause their cheques were delayed or notanticipated for weeks after applying for anassistance program.

The member agencies and churches handedout these emergency supplies as theirresources allowed. However, by 1983, asdemand for “emergency hampers”increased, the volunteers discovered thatmany users waited until all their food wasgone. Many also came in for more than onehamper in a three-month period. TheEdmonton Gleaners Association grewconcerned about providing nutritionalbalance in the hampers. A comprehensiveprogram was designed to increase thehampers’ uniformity and nutritional value.

The slight decrease in demand in 1984 afterthe advocacy work of the Board was only abrief respite. Edmonton’s Food Bank andmember agencies noticed growing demandbefore the middle of 1985, and it continued atan alarming rate into 1986. (The increasebetween March and April for example was 42per cent.) The Board responded by creating anew Emergency Program that included atightened screening process. This process wasnot instituted to deny access to emergencyfood, but to ensure that those requesting theassistance had tried all avenues of assistance. It was part of an advocacy effort to educate and empower the individuals to obtain all thesocial services to which they were entitled. Itwas also a method of ensuring that those whoapproached the Food Bank would be referredto the member agencies which could best meettheir needs in terms of help with shelter, childcare, job training and search assistance, etc.

In 1990 the Central Screening pilot project wasinitiated. Focusing initially on the northeast ofthe city, the staff and volunteers at the CentralWarehouse began to handle all the screening todetermine a client’s need for referrals, training,and, when necessary, the emergency hamper. It was done to alleviate the strain on agenciesand churches that relied on volunteers to keep their programs going. It also provided anopportunity to assess if the Edmonton GleanersAssociation could improve its ability to providedirect connections by screening clientsconsistently at the central location. When theresults were presented at the 1990 AnnualGeneral Meeting, the member agencies votedoverwhelmingly to expand the program to thewhole city over two or three years.

Advocating for Clients

Safeway Warehouse1988

In the early 1990s, monthly statistics forpeople fed rose from 12,000 to 14,000 permonth very quickly. The Board of Directors

and the member agenciesfelt yet another programwas necessary to dealwith what was becominga food security crisis.

SupplementalHampers

The SupplementalHamper Program wasdesigned to assist thoseforced to use theEmergency Hamper

Program on an ongoing basis. Memberagencies identified individuals and familieswho could benefit from greater levels ofsupport to pursue alternative assistance.After they were referred to the program,they were assisted with food supplies butalso provided information about andreferrals to different sources of assistanceavailable in the community.

Within the first year, 500 frequent-useclients were identified and referred to theSupplemental Hamper Program. Their shiftout of the Emergency Hamper Programcaused a noted decline in resources requiredthere. The program was deemed a successand continued to receive United Wayfunding in subsequent years.

Over the years, the Edmonton GleanersAssociation has developed two aspects ofadvocacy on behalf of the individuals andfamilies who come to Edmonton’s FoodBank for food. The first is to help thoseindividuals and families gain access to theexisting programs for social assistance moreeffectively. The second aspect involvesurging the Government of Alberta todevelop more effective income securityprograms and policies.

The Edmonton Gleaners Association got itsfirst taste of advocacy in the fall of 1983.After two successful years of gleaning anddistributing food, the surge in demand foremergency food hampers caused the Boardto respond to those they felt responsible forthe hunger they were asked to address. TheBoard sent a letter to Social Services MinisterNeil Webber about the effect of recent socialallowance cutbacks. It would not be the lasttime they communicated with the Ministerof Social Services. The Government’sresponse to their letter was that no one hadany hard data about the issue.

This sparked the Board into finding outwho was using Edmonton’s Food Bank.Initially, the Boyle Street Health Centresurveyed their clients to find out about theirFood Bank use. In June, members of theBoard and staff met with a representative ofAlberta Social Services, Bob Maxwell, todiscuss the issue of conducting a study. The Association hired students to researchand the Alberta Social Services Departmentparticipated with the member agencies todetermine causes of Food Bank use. In

November 1984, however, they pulled outof the consulting group and then proceededto release new social allowance rates andguidelines—without consultation withtheir previous partners.

The Food Bank and its 91 member agenciescontinued on without the governmentrepresentatives. In February, 1985, theyreleased their report Hunger in Our City: a question of responsibility, which criticizedthe department’s method of determining thestandard measures of actual costs for basicnecessities on which they based the socialassistance rates.

Due to the higher profile of food banks, a debate began in the media and in somesocial service agencies about whether theircontinued operation. A backlash campaignadvocated “forcing the government’s hand”by closing the food banks that allowedthem to abrogate their responsibilities. The Edmonton Gleaners Association wasreluctant to abandon clients withoutguarantees that income security measureswould improve. The option of using theclients as pawns in a political battle wouldmean that no one won.

As part of a public awareness campaign in January, 1986, letters to all governmentofficials ensured that they had up-to-date,accurate information about the EdmontonGleaners Association. Seven hundred fifty copies of Hunger in Our City weredistributed and an update sent to theMinister of Social Services and CommunityHealth requesting information on the

status of the implementation of theirrecommendations. Every effort was madeto assure the Department and the Ministerof their desire to address the issue of foodsecurity in Edmonton.

A severe blow to the Association came inNovember, 1987 when the Alberta SocialServices Income Security Manual wasreissued and distributed to all IncomeSecurity social workers. It specificallymentioned as part of the department’sprocedure making referrals to communityagencies like the Food Bank. The Board ofthe Edmonton Gleaners Association sawthis major policy shift of the Department,again made without consultation, ashaving a direct effect on the Food Bank. It confirmed their worst fears that theFood Bank was in danger of becominginstitutionalized, rather than being acommunity response to acommunity issue ofindividual disadvantage.

The Edmonton GleanersAssociation and their 91member agencies calledupon Alberta SocialServices in a formal, publicstatement, to stop makingreferrals to the EdmontonFood Bank. The Board’srefusal to take the policychange without a fightpaid off. The EdmontonFood Bank recorded thelowest demand in years during the monthof January 1988. Their insistence on

Heritage Festival food Drive • 1996

On a more pragmatic level we

must ask ourselves if we are

capable of ensuring that this

service is provided to everyone

who needs it? Despite the

perceptions to the contrary,

the Food Bank is a fragile,

seat-of-the-pants operation,

often incapable of ensuring

supply next month, much less

next year or into the 1990s.

— from the resolution of the

Edmonton Gleaners

Association Agency Members,

December 10, 1987

Summer 1990

clarifying the department’s intentions andensuring that the social workers wereexhausting all the options on behalf of theirclients marked a turning point in theirrelationship with Alberta Social Services andtheir clients.

The next research projectundertaken by theGleaners Associationconcerned single socialassistance recipientswhose welfare ratessuffered the highestlevels of cuts in 1987.The Singles Surveyfound an increasingfrequency of use ofEdmonton’s Food Bankby singles in great andcontinuing need for

basic sustenance. Approximately 75.8per cent of the singles coming to the FoodBank cited their only source of income asWelfare and their need had increased sincebenefits were slashed. “Based on our surveyfindings, it is clear that Alberta SocialServices seldom offers effective emergencyfood help to their clients, a situation madeworse by the low levels of basic assistancethat make emergency situations frequentand inevitable.” (, p. 14) When it wasreleased in April of 1988, it received criticalacclaim from many workers in the socialservices community.

In December, 1988, after months ofcriticism, the 1988-89 budget of AlbertaSocial Services increased food allowances

by 13.5 per cent. The Gleaners Associationwas as quick to applaud as it was tocriticize. In 1990, the Edmonton GleanersAssociation noted that Social Servicesreforms to simplify and ensure equalizationof benefits seemed to have a positive effecton Edmonton’s Food Bank demand. Their own programs were also seen ascontributing to this trend. “While manyexternal factors like an improved localeconomy also contributed to thisimprovement, it is very clear that theclients we empower with knowledge andinformation are better able to utilize othergovernment and community resources.”(Report of the Executive Director, AnnualReport, 1990)

The release of the Edmonton Food PolicyCouncil’s survey in 1991 identified 80,000people in Edmonton as being hungry or atrisk of being hungry. The Council involvedmany Alberta Government departments,not just Social Services, in focus groupsand discussions about possible solutions to the issues raised in the survey. Theconclusion was that the effects of povertywere broader than Social Assistancemeasures could address.

In this cause the Board of the Food Bankreceived support from a private foundation.In 1992, The Muttart Foundation extendedfunding to assist the Edmonton GleanersAssociation to move towards finding waysof eliminating hunger in the community, toprovide more public education on the rootcauses of hunger, and to carry out moreadvocacy activities. The Food Policy

I just had the opportunity to

review your survey done on

singles who use the Food Bank.

I must say that over the last

21 years, this is by far one of

the best presentations that I

have yet seen on research

information. I would like to

compliment the Food Bank

and in particular Doug Hunter

who, in conjunction with

J.P. Lebourgeois of our

department, was able to come

up with such a fine document.

—from Maria David Evans to

Brian Bechtel, March 21, 1988.

Council released their recommendationsand focused media and public attention ontheir solutions for reducing hunger in Edmonton.

In 1996, with the assistance of theEdmonton Social Planning Council, theFood Bank released Two Paychecks Away:Social Policy and Hunger in Edmonton, whichrevealed that one in 20 Edmontonians hasreceived assistance at some time. Theyfollowed the report up with meetings at alllevels of government in 1997 to continuetheir advocacy efforts. In conjunction withthe Edmonton Social Planning Council,they developed a new survey of users whichwas issued in 1998.

The 1999 collaboration with theEdmontonSocial PlanningCouncilgenerated astudy entitledOften Hungry,SometimesHomeless whichdiscusses therelationshipbetween shelterand food securityissues, especiallyfor socialassistancerecipients.

In the fall of 1984, members of theEdmonton Gleaners Association andDirector Gerard Kennedy conceived of aplan to coordinate the efforts of other FoodBanks across Canada. They proposed tohost the first national food bank conferencein the spring of the following year.

The conference was declared a success.Next a committee worked out the details of forming a national association. In themeantime, regional groups were formedalong provincial lines to assist the foodbanks to network and, where possible, shareinformation and resources.

The second national conference was held inToronto in 1985 and the Canadian

Association of Food Banks wascreated in 1988. The firstHungerCount containingnational statistics on foodprograms was compiled andreleased in 1989.

In 1993, Edmonton againplayed host to the NationalFood Bank Conference. Over400 communities, representingevery province in Canada, sentdelegates to explore the theme,“Making Canada Hunger-Free.”The major emphasis was onadvocacy and lobbying, areaswhich all the members presentrecognized as essential forcreating an atmosphere

conducive to change.

Working with Others

Heritage Festival Food Drive • 1987

“Never doubt that a small

group of thoughtful, committed

citizens can change the world.

Indeed it is the only thing that

ever has.”

—Margaret Mead, Culture

and Commitment, 1970, cited

in Gleanings, August, 1999.

Volunteer and Community Support

� Begun in 1981 as a group ofconcerned individuals, the Board ofDirectors of the Edmonton GleanersAssociation and their memberagencies draw volunteers from a widesegment of the community.

� The Edmonton Gleaners Associationbecame a United Way Partner agency in 1983.

� Special events in the communitybegan early in the history of theFood Bank. The first “brown bag”campaign in conjunction withCanada Safeway and the EdmontonJournal provided instructions toproviding nutritious food on the backof a paper grocery bag which couldbe deposited at the popularEdmonton Heritage Festival inHawrelak Park.

� Volunteers, staff, and the media allmarvelled at the generosity of thecitizens of Edmonton. During therapid increase in demand for FoodBank resources in the early 1990s,new food drives like those associatedwith Candy Cane Lane and the CansFestival (sculptures of donated cansat West Edmonton Mall) raisedrecord amounts of food donations.

� The Board and volunteers over saw some 700 special events and fooddrives in 1999.

� Record volunteer contributionsreached around the 50,000 hours per year.

� Most of the work in the Food Bankcould not be accomplished withoutthe voluntary contributions ofhundreds of Edmontonians.

Section 3

“Picking Roots”By Allen Sapp

Board Chairs

Janet Hughes 1981-1983

Phil Byrne 1984-1986

William de Vos 1987-1990

Jim Casey 1991-1992

Elizabeth Johnson 1993-1994

William de Vos 1995-1997

Eleanor Boddy 1998-2001

Executive Directors

Gerard Kennedy 1983-1986

Brian Bechtel 1986-1989

Marjorie Bencz 1989-2001

Honourary Chairperson

Cathy Borst 1998-2001

On January 16, 1981, the Edmonton Gleaners Association, which is better known as

Edmonton’s Food Bank, became incorporated as a society and Canada’s first Food Bank was

born. At the time, no one could have predicted that the organization would become a vital

instrument of caring in our community.

It is with mixed feelings that Edmonton’s Food Bank acknowledges our 20th anniversary as an

organization. It is unfortunate that the need for a Food Bank in Edmonton continues. At the

same time, we wish to acknowledge the truly outstanding contributions that have been made

to our organization by volunteers, staff, donors and other supporters throughout the years.

Edmonton’s Food Bank has organized several activities to acknowledge our anniversary,

including the researching, writing, printing and distributing of this book. Due to financial

restraints and the sheer scope of this project, it is impossible to list the thousands of

individuals, businesses, funders and supporters who have supported the work of the Food

Bank with a vision of making our community hunger free. In order to be truly thoughtful

in our acknowledgements, we would need to publish an encyclopedia rather than a twenty

page book! Please accept this letter as our expression of gratitude for your contributions.

On behalf of the Board of Directors, I would like to express our many thanks to the following

who assisted in the development of this book: Sherry Allenson, Patty Bencz, Bill deVos,

Beckie Garber-Conrad, Janet Hughes, Jack Little, Parcom Marketing and Quebecor World

Jasper. Our deepest appreciation to Kathryn Ivany for researching and writing this book.

Thank you for sharing!

Eleanor Boddy

A Message from the Chair of the Board of Directors

I never have my children skip because I prefer that my husband and I skip meals.

—Client, Edmonton Food Policy Council

Through regular collections withinchurches, hospitals, seniors’ homesand schools to diverse sources like theturnip field of the Fort Saskatckewanjail, the public seemed to be verymuch on our side.

—1984-85 Annual General Meeting

The war against hunger is truly mankind’s war of liberation.—John F.Kennedy

Candy Cane Lane-goers have

already pitched in more than

two tonnes of food to help

feed hungry Edmontonians.

It’s the first time organizers

of the 26th annual Christmas

spectacle have launched a

drive to collect donations for

the Edmonton Food Bank.

—Edmonton Sun,

December 19, 1993

“Food bank’s brown bag appeal spreads across continent”

—Edmonton Journal HeadlineDecember 7, 1985

One cannot think well, love well, sleep well,

if one has not dined well.

—Virginia Wolf

Our mission is...To be stewards in the collection of

surplus and donated food for the

effective distribution, free of charge, to

people in need in our community.

�