When a group of churches started a food pantry in Surrey, B.C., in 1981 to help people deal with a downturn in the economy, they thought they were providing a temporary solution. Today, the Surrey Food Bank has become a permanent part of the social landscape and is changing the stereotype of people who need a "hand up."

Robin Campbell, the executive director of the Surrey Food Bank, says that one of the most valuable things she and her team learned from the Benevon 101 Workshop and coaching was how to tell stories about their work to their community. Campbell said there are thousands of people the food bank has helped, and one of her favorite stories is about Tammy.

Tammy, her husband, and two young children moved from Alberta to manage and live in an apartment building. But three months after their arrival, the apartment building burned to the ground. In an instant, they lost their home, their possessions, and their job. A neighbor told Tammy she should go to a food bank for help, but Tammy said a food bank was for people who had nothing. The next day, feeling degraded and humiliated, Tammy stood in line at the Surrey Food Bank and was warmly greeted. When she came home with the food hamper, her three-year-old asked her why she was crying and Tammy told her they were tears of happiness because some nice people had given them food to eat.

Tammy was so grateful that she began volunteering at the Surrey Food Bank and was eventually elected to the board of directors.

Campbell tells Tammy's story at the many introductory Point of Entry^® Events they hold called "Meet the Bank." These tours are held monthly and for anyone who asks when they come through the door. The Surrey Food Bank also takes their "Meet the Bank" introductions on the road, holds them on Saturdays for families, and offers tours for school children. For school kids, the children are given roles to play so they understand why people need a food bank. For instance, one child will be the mom; another, the landlord; another, the person collecting for utilities; etc.

Campbell says the Surrey Food Bank is breaking the myth that "people we help are drug addicts and lazy people."

"That couldn't be farther from the truth," she said. "We are helping families who have fallen on tough times that need a hand up, not a hand down."

The food bank gives supplemental food hampers to 14,000 people every month. They also sponsor a community kitchen, where people learn how to cook and then take food home for their families. The food bank has community gardens, where low-income people are given land, seeds, and tools to grow their own vegetables and herbs. The food bank also gives out a cookbook full of low-cost recipes.

The Surrey Food Bank receives no government funding, said Campbell. For income, they contract with the city to do litter pick up, receive money from recycling cardboard, and receive a little bank interest. Sometimes they are awarded grants for special projects, but most of their $450,000 yearly budget comes from donations.

Campbell calls herself one of the "poster children" for Benevon because of where they are now.

"What [Benevon] did for us along with coming up with a great plan is change how we do business from A to Zed," she said. "[Benevon] really motivated us to review all aspects of how we do business from how we talk about our mission and the work we do to how we tell our clients' stories to our relationships with donors and the community."

The result?

"The community is 100% behind us," she said. "We have an ever growing list of Multiple-Year Donors, and the food bank gets more recognition as a professionally run organization."

To read more about why Robin Campbell's board members were skeptical at first and why she thinks Canada could benefit from more organizations using this model, read her story in Canadian Fundraiser and scroll down to "Another Satisfied Report."

Also, read about other Canadian Benevon alumni as featured in Canadian Fundraiser, NUVO Magazine, and on our own Web site.