Edmonton's Food Bank hits cash goal, comes up short on food donations

Edmonton's Food Bank on Jan. 3, 2025. (Galen McDougall/CTV News Edmonton)

Edmonton's Food Bank holiday donation campaign surpassed its monetary goal in 2024, but has struggled to bring in the food it needs to stock the shelves this year.

"We had a goal of 300,000 kilograms plus $4.5 million worth of monetary donations. We have reached our monetary goal, which we feel really positive about," executive director of Edmonton's Food Bank Majorie Bencz told CTV News Edmonton on Friday.

"The flip side of that is we haven't reached our food goal. We're only sitting about 80 per cent, so we're hoping that people will continue to make monetary donations," she added.

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According to Bencz, the food bank's Brown Bag campaign was delayed by five weeks due to the Canada Post strike.

She said families didn't receive their brown bags until a few days before Christmas.

On Dec. 30, the federal government proposed an extension to the donation deadline, meaning people would have until Feb. 28 to donate for the 2024 tax year.

"Organizations like the food bank are offering services all year round. We need those contributions of food, money and time throughout the course of the year, so we appreciate the support we get," Bencz said.

"You'll hear that people are struggling to make ends meet, and so it's no surprise that the food banks are serving (a) record number of people," she added.

"Without that support, we couldn't do what we are doing."

For more information on how to donate, visit the food bank's website.