AUPE fights food insecurity in our community

The holidays came early for the Students’ Union Campus Food Bank — and will be made brighter for University of Calgary community members in need — thanks to a generous donation from the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE) Local 52 Council.

On Dec. 2, council members Prachi Mishra and Peter Gimby, BSc’07, presented a cheque for $10,000 to the food bank to help fight local food insecurity.

“We hope this helps the Campus Food Bank. It’s been a tough year. We fully expect that donations will probably be a little bit harder to come by,” says Justin Huseby, BA’06, chair of AUPE Local 52 at the University of Calgary. “Other areas the food bank would typically receive donations from won’t be there, so the support staff members wanted to step up.”

Local 52 has been a regular supporter of the service, but this year the decision was made to increase the donation to $10,000.

“There was really no question. The members wanted to put it in the community for the community members,” says Huseby. “There are lots of opportunities to donate, but they wanted to make sure that it stayed at home this year.”

The SU Campus Food Bank is open to all members of the UCalgary community including students, support staff and recent alumni who may need a hand up, making it an important service on campus — especially during the holidays.

“We’re grateful for this donation because it goes a long way to help students through final exams and the holiday season. This year has been tough, with rising costs and fewer job prospects, many students, and their families, are turning to the SU Food Bank for support,” says Assad Ali Bik, the Student Union’s vice-president of student life.

The Food Bank offers additional programming at this time of year, such as Holiday Hampers, which contain all the necessities for a festive meal, and the Adopt-a-Student Family program, which provides children’s gifts by matching families with sponsors from the community. It also works to help clients find other food-security resources on and off campus.

“What we want to do is make sure that our students and the rest of the community are fully supported, and that the Food Bank is able to meet the needs of the community,” says Huseby.

With the generous support of donors like AUPE Local 52, they’ll be able to do just that.