The Salvation Army in Vernon Innovates Their Food Hamper System

For clients of The Salvation Army in Vernon, B.C., there is a new and more enjoyable way to receive their food hampers.

Now clients get to pick the food products they need in a shopping-style system.

“With our old system, people would get a hamper every two months, but we selected the food for them. So, the new idea is to get food in people’s hands, and they can select what they want, giving them more dignity,” Lieutenant Neil Thompson, corps officer at The Salvation Army in Vernon, explains.

The new system allows clients to pick exactly what they need and want, minimizing food waste.

It also increases the available access people have to the food bank. Now, they can get perishables once a week and non-perishables once a month.

“People love being able to choose,” Lieutenant Neil adds.

When clients book an appointment for the food bank, they come in and grab what they need. There are even volunteers available to assist with the shopping. The interaction also allows staff to get to know clients better and offer additional services if needed.

“We have volunteers that walk them through the shop and help them have a good experience, get what they need, build relationships with them and then help them to their cars,” Lieutenant Neil shares.

While this system has been a success thus far, it requires additional people to run it. Lieutenant Neil says more volunteer hours are available and they are preparing a new location with more space to host the program.

“We ran it as a pilot in our current space, just to see how it would flow and how we wanted to design the new space.”

With the new shopping-style system now fully implemented, clients can enjoy a much more satisfying experience.

“We are happy to see the people accessing the food bank, with more choice and flexibility in how often they can get food from us. We have only received positive feedback,” Lieutenant Neil says.

By Juan Romero