‘More than just food’: Edmonton’s Food Bank offers job-securing services

The Edmonton food bank is going beyond filling the stomachs of their clients with a program to help them find employment.

Edmonton’s Food Bank is reminding people of the additional services their program offers to help immigrant residents become less dependent on food hampers.

The Beyond Food program began in 2017 to address the growing need for food bank recipients not being able to afford goods. The program helps them find jobs, builds their resume-writing skills, prepares for job interviews, teaches them English and offers financial literacy classes.

• Download our app to get Edmonton alerts on your device

“People register with our Beyond Food program and our volunteers or staff talk to them about their situation and find out a little bit more what is needed in their household to make them more food secure,” said Marjorie Bencz, the executive director for Edmonton’s Food Bank.

“Ultimately, that’s the goal of Edmonton’s Food Bank – to have people who are food secure (who) can go and buy their own groceries and thrive versus needing a food hamper from (us),” Bencz told CTV Edmonton News.

Bencz said she sees “a lot of success” coming out of the program as the city faces high unemployment rates.

“Last year we served about 3,800 people through the program …. Success rate depends on the situation, but (we’re) between 50 and 70 per cent success rate in finding jobs,” said Bencz.

“We want people to be successful … We want people to have more than just food,” she added.

Don Lore, a Beyond Food instructor and a volunteer of the food bank for 32 years, said teaching the basics will go a long way.

“If you want a job (or) if you want to go to school, you need to know English. You need to know English well enough to be able to understand instruction on a job,” Lore said to CTV News Edmonton Thursday.

He said he teaches his students about two hours a week until they get a firm grasp of the language, which can take between six to seven months.

Just like any class, he gives out homework to further his students’ education.

“(I ask them to) have the radio and television on English channels so (they’re) hearing the words. The other is, I ask them all to get a library card and use the library as regularly as they can,” he added.

Anyone can take part in the program, even if they aren’t using the food bank’s services.

Edmonton’s Food Bank serves more than 380 organizations and helps more than 42,000 people every month.

For more information on the program, visit the Edmonton’s Food Bank’s website.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Marek Tkach