A BIG THANK YOU TO OUR COMMUNITY MEMBERS!
The North Okanagan Good Food Box would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to the many individual community members who make the Good Food Box possible.
Every dollar and every volunteer hour donated goes towards helping local families eat fresh local produce every month.
We would also like to acknowledge the generosity of our charitable donors, government agencies, corporate sponsors, partner agencies, distribution sites and media outlets for your ongoing support.
Your continued commitment makes a world of difference in the hearts and bellies of those who depend on the North Okanagan Good Food Box.
Thank you for your commitment to a healthier North Okanagan!
Distribution Sites
All Saints Anglican Church
We are very grateful to the staff and congregation of All Saints Anglican Church for hosting the central distribution site for the Good Food Box program for over 20 years at no charge for the third week of the month.
This allows us to hold the program, receive and distribute bulk produce for outer areas, weigh and separate produce into individual bins for distribution and delivery.
During the pandemic, the church allowed us to continue, deeming it as an essential service.
Zion United Church
Gives room for bulk produce to be distributed into separate boxes for distribution and delivered to those who have limited mobility in Armstrong.
GFB Order by Date for May 2024
GFB Pick up Day for May 2024
GFB Order by Date for June 2024
GFB Pick up Day for June 2024
School Food Box Donations
Visit Us On Facebook!
Trinity United Church
Gives the program use of their lobby area once per month to distribute Good Food Boxes.
In addition, Trinity United Church has donated funds to sponsor 124 GFBs for the Vernon Pregnancy Outreach Program.
Enderby Senior Center
Donates space for the use of the Enderby Good Food Box volunteers to assemble and distribute produce boxes each month.
Head of The Lake Hall
Donates their space every month for Westside Good Food Box volunteers to assemble and distribute Good Food Boxes.
The Lumby Museum
Donated its space over the last few years to allow the Lumby Food Box volunteers to assemble and distribute produce boxes.
Okanagan College Vernon Campus
Since 2011, the student association has ordered Good Food Boxes for their students and has been a depot for GFB pickup.
St. John’s Lutheran Church
Our latest addition to the Vernon area pick up locations. The St. John’s Lutheran Church in the Okanagan Landing area has graciously offered to donate their space for a couple hours on the third Thursday of the month for GFB volunteers to assemble and distribute produce boxes.
Partner Agencies
Government Agencies
RDNO
Thank you to The Regional District of the North Okanagan who donated $10,600 of pandemic recovery funds in 2021 to sponsor 200 boxes per month for 5 months to families in the more rural areas of the North Okanagan.
Media
Armstrong Advertiser
Armstrong’s local paper has been a strong supporter of the Good Food Box program throughout the years. We appreciate their stories and accompanying photos featuring the GFB at local events.
Castanet
Castanet has been a strong supporter of the Good Food Box. We appreciate the news items they have published related to the Good Food Box program in the North Okanagan.
Vanessa Garrison Photography
Venessa worked with the Good Food Box to develop a series of beautiful photos for our website. She traveled to a number of our distribution locations to take photos of volunteers and their distribution day processes.
Vernon Morning Star
Roger Knox and the staff of the Vernon Morning Star newspaper have been great supporters of the Good Food Box program, printing submitted articles and photos or coming out to events to take photographs for the local paper.
Vernon Websites
In the summer of 2023, Vernon Websites completely rebuilt the website and set up the new online ordering system. They will also host, manage, monitor and upgrade/update the website going forward.
Wayside
Has generously donated printing services for our display boards.
Charities
CFNO
This local foundation has consistently raised funds to sponsor large and small good food boxes since 2021. A huge thank you to the CFNO board and staff. Over the last two years they have supported 3480 families and 360 individuals to receive boxes of fresh produce.
As CFNO is a registered charity they are able to receive funds on behalf of the Good Food Box program and issue charitable receipts. Through CFNO, funds from the Smart and Caring initiative were made available to help research and develop a new website.
Sparc BC
Through Land to Table Network, the Social Planning Council of BC gave $20,000 in May of 2020 to
sponsor 50 small boxes of produce to which we added half a dozen eggs, a half loaf of whole wheat
bread and an additional food item per month for 8 months. These boxes have gone to seniors in need
that were identified by community agencies. Arrangements were made to deliver these boxes to the
household either through the community agencies or Good Food Box volunteers.
Since this time SPARC has continued to fund this program, and with the help of Nexus and Land to Table
network, we were able to expand to 60 seniors in 2022. SPARC and Nexus funding combined in 2023
allowing us to expand to 70 seniors for a full year into 2024.
United Way
United Way in partnership with Land to Table Network has awarded the Good food Box Board with
several grants over the past few years. One grant gave us funds to hire an assistant coordinator to
update our Policy manual, to draft a Volunteer manual and Board member manual, to do early research
on what was needed to update our website and help plan for sustainability of the program. A second
grant helped us hire a digital assistant to select a website designer and work with us to develop and
establish a new website at www.goodfoodbox.ca over this last year.
A grant from United Way in early 2023 was to help us purchase additional blue bins as our program
expanded from 500 bins over month to over 1000 in 2021. This funding has also helped us purchase a
pallet jack, 2 additional dollies and 2 digital scales.
Through United Way with the assistance of Land to Table Network, we received a Community Recovery
and Resource Grant from United Way and the Government of Canada in 2023 to conduct a Pilot Project
to help strategize for the continued growth and efficiency of the program. This grant includes
connecting with local food sources and storage facilities to enhance the ability for us to source local
food as well as expand our distribution locations.