Our Partners in Forest Lawn

The face of the food bank could be anyone, anywhere.

A city of a million people is an expanse of communities and within every neighborhood, there is someone in need. The face of the food bank could be anyone, anywhere so to ensure emergency food is available to citizens everywhere, we have established partnerships in neighborhoods throughout the city.

One such neighborhood is Forest Lawn, a former town in the southeast quadrant of the city with a population of just over 8,000 people. This area has become the bustling centre of multi-culturalism in Calgary with many business and services located along on the aptly named International Avenue. To help meet the diverse needs of this community and build its population’s resiliency, we took a look how to best meet their needs and started working with organizations that could help make an impact.

Community Profile

23% New Canadian and  immigrant population

64% are renters

51% of renter households with income spend 30% or more of total income on shelter.

24% are considered low income

Median household and individual income before tax is $47,267. The median household income in Calgary is $81,256.

Source:  City of Calgary

First is our depot location in located in the Hope Mission Building, run in cooperation with the Evangel Christian Assembly. Every Wednesday from 10 am to 12 noon, clients pick-up pre-arranged hampers, each filled with seven to ten days’ worth of nutritious food, for every member of the family.

But this is more than just one meal – it is a week’s worth of inclusion. It means their children are not singled out and have a lunch to take to school every day.  Family time can be around the table as there is dinner every evening. There are even snacks for guests at game night.

We also provide quality food and supplies to the area’s agencies so that they can focus on their program delivery rather than look for food donations. So far in 2018, eight Food Link programs in the Forest Lawn area received close to 100,000 pounds of food, ranging from granola bars for growing students to the fixings for dinner gatherings. These are:

• Antyx Community Arts
• Awo Taan Healing Lodge Society – Youth Mentorship Program & Parent Link Centre
• Jack James High School
• Forest Lawn High School
• Hope Mission
• The Alex – Community Food Centre
• Victory Foundation
• Wood’s Homes – Family Support Network

Another important partnership in the Forest Lawn area is with the Sunrise Community Link Resource Center, who provides critical services towards reducing poverty. Together we create hampers and distribute them from their hub affecting 1,422 lives. Sunrise clients are now able to use their time and energy to focus on the other resources at the centre.

Sunrise Community Link Resource Center

• 995 hampers distributed
• Average 5 hampers a day
• Clients from 56 different communities
• 23% from Forest Lawn
• 1,422 lives affected

(July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018)

Forest Lawn is a unique neighbourhood that makes Calgary the diverse city it is today. Neighbours are helping neighbours, families are accessing and volunteering at the myriad of services right in their community. Thanks to like-minded organizations, we are proud to be a part of this energy and helping to build people’s resiliency.