BC Dairy Farmers donate $50,000 to Food Banks BC following successful spring campaign

Who: BC Dairy Farmers

What: In its latest initiative to support food banks, and as the final piece of a successful spring campaign aptly named Eat good, do good, BC Dairy Farmers has donated $50,000 to Food Banks BC that will be distributed around the province.

“The impact is significant,” said Dan Huang-Taylor, executive director of Food Banks BC, in a press release. “[The funds] come at such a critical time as more and more people turn to food banks with so many struggling to keep up with the increases we're seeing in living costs. Secondly, the awareness that this campaign raises about the work of food banks and the importance of partnerships such as this with BC Dairy is of such great importance.”

Eat good, do good ran from May 9 to June 19 in conjunction with 31 restaurants from Metro Vancouver, Victoria and Kelowna. BC Dairy pledged donations when consumers purchased select dairy-based menu items at partner restaurants. In the end, 49,735 orders — from lasagnas to milkshakes — ended up directly helping food banks around the province.

According to Huang-Taylor, from December 2021 to March 2022 the number of people using food banks in BC jumped by 83%, one-third of all clients are children and there are 20% more seniors using the services than there were two years ago.

Food insecurity is something “that really hits home for local dairy farmers,” said Holger Schwichtenberg, chair of BC Dairy and a dairy farmer in Agassiz, BC. “We want to do what we can to bring safe and nutritious food for everyone, and also to give back to the community that supported us when dairy farms needed help during last year’s floods.”

Eat good, do good was designed to support families in need and drive business to restaurants recovering from the economic consequences of COVID-19 lockdowns and other restrictions. “We’re all stronger when we help each other,” said Schwichtenberg.