United Way is currently seeking donations from the public to combat growing food insecurity in Prince George and across the province.
United Way stated that in 2025, the average Canadian household will spend $800 more on food than last year. This price increase forces lower-income families and vulnerable groups, such as seniors and people with disabilities, to choose between rent, food, and transportation.
In addition, United Way reports that half a million people in BC don’t have enough to eat every day, and that number is growing.
United Way BC.’s food security director, Alžběta Sabová, told The Citizen that support for these programs is especially important in Prince George and northern BC.
“We know that the number of vulnerable families is exponentially higher in rural and remote communities, and in northern communities, that’s particularly important,” said Sabová. “We’ve expanded our services to Prince George, and we’ve established new regional community food hubs to help those families, help those moms, help those seniors, and ensure they have food on their tables all year round. So it’s incredibly important to work together to support this United Way BC food appeal and make sure that these services are accessible and available to everyone in need in the long term.”
With funds from donations, United Way plans to launch a new food appeal program and a new food hub in Prince George. These programs will ensure that all funds donated to United Way stay local and support food programs in the community.
“A food hub is actually multiple organizations working together,” said Sabová. “This ensures a variety of services. The services will be spread across Prince George, and we are working closely with the Prince George Native Friendship Centre to lead this initiative, along with several other organizations that offer different types of services as part of this regional community food hub.”
The Food Hub program also aims to connect communities across the province through a network of 108 partner organizations in 23 regions. However, these hubs can often require large investments.
“United Way invests over $2 million on a yearly basis,” said Sabová. “We want to make sure that the amount is growing because the need is growing as well. Currently, including Prince George, we are in 23 regions, and we want to be in 29 regions across British Columbia by the end of 2025. The investment in regional community food hubs really varies from region to region, but the scale is usually anywhere from $50,000 to $200,000 for yearly operations, depending on the size of the region. However, this is not comprehensive; we know these regions need more funding, and smaller programs also need a lot of support.”
Donations to the Food Appeal program will go to supporting the following projects:
- A regional community food hub development in Prince George to bring together locals and support the unique food needs of the area
- Local food programs
- Food Link, an innovative program that supports the delivery of food and basic necessities
To donate or learn more, visit www.uwbc.ca.
