Founded in 1982, Calgary Food Bank is an emergency food distribution hub that collects and distributes food to individuals, families, single parents, and homeless people. The charity reports that 11% of Albertans experience food insecurity. It aims to create a hunger-free community by fighting hunger and its root causes. In F2019, Calgary Food Bank's major programs were its emergency food hampers, its Food Share program, and its Food Link program. It also runs the Hampers for the Homeless Program, which provides food for short-term hunger relief for homeless people. In F2019, Calgary Food Bank reports that it affected 192,391 lives.

A Charity Intelligence 2019 Top 10 Canadian Impact Charity

In F2019, Calgary Food Bank spent 69% of funding and food donations on its Emergency Food Hamper program ($27.1m). Emergency food hampers contain the equivalent of one week of food for each person in need and meet Canada’s Food Guide standards. In addition to the hamper, the food bank refers its clients to local agencies to help them deal with their underlying reasons for food insecurity. Specialty hampers are available for babies, people with allergies, specific dietary restrictions, birthday parties, or expecting mothers and fathers. In F2019, the charity distributed 69,249 emergency food hampers (66,204 in F2018) and provided 12,157 client referrals (13,317 in F2018). 

In F2019, Calgary Food Bank spent 17% of funding and food donations on its Food Share program ($6.7m).  For food donations where food would normally be disposed of because Calgary Food Bank is unable to distribute large amounts of the product, the food is re-distributed to food banks outside the city of Calgary (regionally and nationally) so that these food banks can meet the nutritional needs of their clients. In F2019, Calgary Food Bank sent 2.1 million pounds (2.3 million in F2018) worth $5.4m ($4.7m in F2018) to 27 food banks (36 in F2018).

In F2019, Calgary Food Bank spent 12% of funding and food donations on its Food Link program ($4.5m). The Food Link program provides quality food and supplies to 233 Calgary agencies and community programs (239 in F2018). This allows the partner agencies to focus their resources on food delivery instead of food collections. In F2019, the food bank distributed 2.5 million pounds of food (2.6m in F2018) worth $6.4m ($5.2m in F2018) through the program. Calgary Food Bank does not directly connect with clients through the Food Link program.

Calgary Food Bank is one of Canada's Major 100 charities, receiving monetary donations of $9.0m along with $32.6m in donated food in F2019. Administrative costs are 4% of total revenues (excluding investment income) and fundraising costs are 2% of total donations. This means overhead costs are 6%. For every $1 donated to the charity, 94 cents go to the cause. This is within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending.  

The charity has total funding reserves of $9.8m. Excluding the cost of donated food, Calgary Food Bank’s funding reserves cover program costs for almost a year and a half.

This report is an update that has been sent to Calgary Food Bank for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.

Updated June 05, 2020 by Eric Jose.