Red Deer Food Bank is a 4-star rated charity with a Good rating for demonstrated impact. Its overhead costs are within Ci's reasonable range. For a foodbank, the ratios are often very low. It is financially transparent and has a below-average results reporting grade. With its current reserves, the charity can cover four months of annual program costs.

Founded in 1984, Red Deer Food Bank (RDFB) provides emergency food requirements for those in need in Red Deer and the surrounding area. The charity states that Alberta has the highest proportion of people affected by food insecurity in Canada.  The charity reports that 1 in 5 Albertans were food insecure in 2022.

Red Deer Food Bank offers Hamper and Pantry programs, facilitates food distribution to partner agencies, and holds other food services programs. The charity does not provide a breakdown of its spending on its programs.

Red Deer Food Bank reports that the emergency hamper program and community pantry were accessed 70,219 times in F2023. It also reports that in 2023 the monthly average of hampers distributed was 942.

RDFB works with Food Banks Alberta to distribute food to rural single-day food banks. In F2023, RDFB supported 30 community agencies and 18 rural food banks. It distributed 53,630 lb of food.

Red Deer Food Banks also has food services programs such as its own kitchen, catering services, a meals-to-go program, and food trucks. In F2023, 294 events were catered. RDFB will also start teaching classes on how to meal prep, how to budget for groceries, and general cooking skills.

In F2023, Red Deer Food Bank received $1.2m in cash donations and special event revenue. Donations and special event revenue increased by 32% from F2022. It also received $3.7m in food donations, which is 68% of total revenues.

Administrative costs are 3% of revenues (excluding investment income) and fundraising costs are 2% of cash donations. This results in total overhead spending of 5%. For every dollar donated, 95 cents are available for programs. This is just within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending. It is not uncommon for food banks to have low overhead costs.

In F2023, Red Deer Food Bank spent $1.6m on its programs, which is 91% of total revenues (excluding food donations). Program costs increased by 56% from F2022. In F2023, the charity had a deficit of $19k. It spent $287k on capital projects, a 73% decrease from F2022.

Red Deer Food Bank has $531k in reserve funds.  The reserve funds are the charity’s cash and investments and have decreased by 31% from F2022. RDFB has four months of annual program costs covered by its current reserves. This excludes the donated food.

The charity’s F2023 T3010 filing with the CRA disclosed $326k in gifts in kind to 32 qualified donees. This includes $49k to Potter’s Hands Ministries, $49k to Red Deer Soup Kitchen, and $34k to Mountain View Food Bank

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

Updated on May 31, 2024 by Alessandra Castino.