Greater Vancouver Food Bank is a 5-star charity with High impact and a high results reporting grade. The charity has $23.8m in reserve funds that can cover 2.6 years of annual program costs.

Founded in 1983, Greater Vancouver Food Bank's (GVFB) mission is to provide healthy food to those in need. The charity states that due to increases in the inflation rate, more people are struggling to make ends meet. In F2022, GVFB helped 7,726 new food bank clients. It aims to provide high quality food and promote food access through local partners.

A Charity Intelligence 2022 Top 10 Canadian Food Bank

In total, GVFB distributed 8.0 million pounds of food in F2022 (7.1 million in F2021). The food was distributed through three main channels: GVFB Food Centres, Community Agency Partners, and other local food banks. The charity reports that it received $12.5m in donated foods and other products in F2022. It spent $4.0m on community programs and $3.9m in food purchases, but gives no further spending breakdown by program.

Greater Vancouver Food Bank collects, buys, and distributes food at its four centres. These centres are in Vancouver, Burnaby, New Westminster, and the North Shore. In F2022, GVFB distributed a total of 8.0 million pounds of food. This food helped 20,781 people (16,133 in F2021), of which 60% were adults, 26% were children, and 14% were seniors. In F2022, following the floods in BC, GVFB sent 14.0k pounds of food to affected areas like Lytton and Merritt.

Greater Vancouver Food Bank donated food and equipment to 119 local Community Agency Partners (CAP) in F2022. Of these 118 organizations, 96 were in Vancouver. In F2022, GVFB opened another warehouse, the Vancouver CAP Market. GVFB distributed 3.3 million pounds of food through its CAPs in F2022 (3.0 million in F2021). In F2022, Greater Vancouver Food Bank launched its second Grants program. It distributed $224.2k to help their CAPs run their operations.

Greater Vancouver Food Bank had total cash donations of $15.0m in F2022. It also received $12.5m in donated food and other goods, representing 45% of total revenues.

Administrative costs are 4% of revenues (less investment income) and fundraising costs are 15% of cash donations. This results in total overhead spending of 19%. For every dollar donated, 81 cents go to the cause, which is within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending.

The charity has $23.8m in reserve funds. These are GVFB’s cash and investments. In F2020, the reserve funds were $13.4m, so there has been a 77% increase in funding reserves. This is because over the past three years the charity has spent significantly less than it has brought on. Excluding the cost of donated goods, GVFB could cover 255% or 2.6 years of its annual program costs with reserves.

Charity Intelligence sent an update of this report to Greater Vancouver Food Bank for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.

Updated June 5, 2023, by Alessandra Castino.