Muslim Food Bank and community

Since it was first established in 2010, the Muslim Food Bank and Community Services Society or MFBCS for short, has aspired to best serve the needs of its community, growing and adapting in tandem with the changing needs of its clients.

An organization of humble beginnings, when MFBCS first started, it ran out of a family garage, providing food and basic supplies to the most vulnerable and marginalized. Before long, it quickly became clear to the founders of the organization that the needs of the community far out-weighed their current capacity. Not only was the demand for food assistance, especially for those with dietary restrictions, far greater than what a home-run program could handle, it was becoming more and more evident that there was a gap in the community for programs to do with capacity-building p y g and development p for marginalized and refugee populations. As such, through a combination of community support and passionate volunteers and organizers, MFBCS found itself expanding beyond solely a food bank and into an organization that offered multiple development programs.

The organization’s growth accelerated in early 2016 in response to the thousands of refugees that arrived in British Columbia. With a host of volunteers trained in trauma-informed practices, as well as having relevant cultural experience and language skills, MFBCS quickly emerged as one of the leading organizations responsible for refugee settlement and support, providing everything from Welcome Care Packages to employment support. More recently, MFBCS is involved in the Muslim Care Center (MCC) as an umbrella organization g in collaboration with other organizations and businesses and the ASPIRE Toastmasters Club. MFBCS continues to develop innovative programming to reach a wider variety of people in the community and in other cities like Toronto.

Today, MFBCS hosts an active volunteer cohort of nearly 200 people. Through its Food Bank branch, it distributes bi-weekly food hampers to nearly 600 families living across the Lower Mainland as well as providing regular meals to the homeless living in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Through its ASPIRE Community Services branch, it provides capacity-building programming to promote independence and help participants develop relevant skills. As we look back on the 10 years MFBCS has been operating we can firmly say that this is just the beginning. MFBCS runs on the generous g support pp of the community and we are always looking for more volunteers. If you are interested in becoming a volunteer, check out our website to see all of the different ways in which you can become involved and fill out the volunteer registration form available online: https:// muslimfoodbank.com/volunteer/ .

If you are looking to make a donations, please see the options listed below:

1. E-transfer to accounting@muslimfoodbank

2. Online via website: https://muslimfoodbank.com/donate/

3. Cheque payable to Muslim Food Bank Surrey Location: 104-12941 115 Ave, Surrey, BC V3R 0E2

Richmond Location: 120-13911 Maycrest Way, Richmond BC V6V 2J4