Food Banks BC recognizes $5 million in charitable giving by BCLIQUOR and BC Cannabis Store customers

BURNABY – The BC Liquor Distribution Branch (LDB) has received Food Banks BC’s 2024 Spirit of Giving Community Partner Award, in recognition of customer giving to store campaigns to support food banks and hunger relief across British Columbia.

Since April 2020, customers have donated nearly $5 million to charitable campaigns at BCLIQUOR and BC Cannabis Stores for Food Banks BC, the provincial association of food banks. That figure includes more than $300,000 from the most recent Spring campaign, which ran from March 31 to April 30, 2024. Donations made at BCLIQUOR and BC Cannabis Stores benefit the food bank in the community where the funds were raised.

“I would like to thank our customers for their generosity and our employees for their continuing support of our Food Banks BC campaigns,” said Blain Lawson, General Manager and Chief Executive Officer of the LDB. “These campaigns are an important way for us to give back to the communities we serve and provide much-needed support to people who are struggling to put food on the table.”

Reliance on local food banks in B.C. has increased significantly in recent years. Since 2021, food bank visits have increased by 50 per cent and the number of individual food bank users has increased 63 per cent, with children making up a third of those using food bank services.

“The Food Banks BC Spirit of Giving Award recognizes the people and organizations who support BC’s food banks and champion the cause of hunger relief,” said Dan Huang-Taylor, Executive Director, Food Banks BC. “The LDB is a truly worthy recipient of this year’s award. At a time when the need for food banks is the highest we have ever seen, the impact of the donations raised through their store campaigns cannot be overstated, and we are deeply grateful to the LDB team and their customers for joining us in the fight to tackle hunger in B.C.”

BCLIQUOR and BC Cannabis Stores will next support Food Banks BC through their annual holiday campaign, which will begin November 12, 2024, and run until January 1, 2025.

Media contacts

BC Liquor Distribution Branch – Communications
[email protected]

Food Banks BC – Katie Orr, Provincial Manager, National Standards
[email protected]