Islamic Family Food Program

The Cause

Maintaining Vital Food Security Infrastructure for Marginalized Ethno-Cultural Communities is what Islamic Family aspires to achieve. Islamic Family is consolidating 2 food depots into one larger location that will allow for more holistic services, deeper sector integration, better food selection, and a broader catchment area.

Islamic Family is creating a centralized food bank in Central Edmonton - moving away from our current system which utilizes three different locations.
Our food bank will provide a larger, more equipped food storage and delivery facility integrated into the design of our new space. Our center, which will include a variety of holistic, social, mentoring, and food services, will enable us to satisfy the rising demands of our community members while also serving a broader range of people in need. Islamic Family goal is to provide our clients a distinctive and wheelchair-accessible location, in our efforts to adequately support all of our community members particularly those with individualized needs.

We are currently Edmonton's second largest food bank, serving approximately 5,000 individuals on a monthly basis. We seek to expand and serve 7,000 individuals each month with more holistic and food-focused programs through the generous support of local donors. We seek to accomplish this by growing food production and expanding our workforce. Islamic Family intends to grow its staff by 20% once we operate our upgraded food Hub In order to substantially satisfy the needs of community members on an individual basis.

Islamic Family hopes to transition from delivering canned food to offering fresh food stored at our community hub. To ensure the success of our endeavor, we are seeking funding to acquire refrigerators and coolers to retain our purchased fresh vegetables and meals. We would be able to retain food quality while also ensuring community safety and satisfaction. Islamic Family strives to address all of the challenges that most disadvantaged communities confront, which is why, in addition to tackling food insecurity, we strive to ensure that most marginalized communities are equally guided to opt for healthy lifestyles and diets.

Who Will it Benefit?

Our target audience is made out of marginalized ethno-cultural minorities and BIPOC. These people are usually people who have been afflicted by challenges such as food insecurity, domestic violence, and mental health. Islamic Family’s programs seek to serve the most vulnerable and underserved members of our community. We focus on marginalized ethnocultural minorities, newcomers and refugees, people experiencing hate crimes, food insecurity, domestic violence, mental health, addiction issues as well as struggling youth. Most of our clients are BIPOC, and belong to an ethnocultural community. We currently serve around 5,000 people every month and our new program will allow us to cater to at least 7,000 people on a monthly basis.