As students inch their way to the end of the school year, keeping their tummies fed remains a top priority.
For Brown Bagging for Calgary’s Kids (BB4CK), which prepares and delivers close to 8,000 lunches in schools and summer camps every day, each May marks the celebration of Brown Bagging It Month. As the 35th anniversary of the organization, this year’s campaign will be extra special.
“The theme of this Brown Bagging Month campaign is powered by care. So, celebrating and talking about all of the ways that care shows up in our communities, whether that’s parents caring for the kids, or teachers caring for students, or neighbors caring for each other,” BB4CK Executive Director Bethany Ross said.
“It’s an interesting time we’re living through, and it can feel lonely, so opportunities to care for each other are so valuable.”
From May 4-31, Arc Resources will be matching donations made to BB4CK up to $100,000, and BB4CK will host a pop-up location at the Core shopping centre from May 11-31. The display is said to invite Calgarians to learn about food insecurity and how care can be turned into lunches.
“The goal of our bagging campaign is to raise awareness of food insecurity in Calgary and to invite Calgarians to take action,” Ross said.
With the school year nearing an end, Ross said that widespread priorities begin to change and student food insecurity is put on the back burner. With their May campaign, BB4CK is hoping to end the 2025-26 school year and begin the summer on high notes.
Though school is out, BB4CK’s lunch programs are far from dormant in the summer months.
“With our summer programs, we have the opportunity to work with so many great community partners like the City of Calgary, the YMCA, the Trellis Society, and so many others who operate daycare programs for kids during the summer and maybe don’t have the facility or access to provide food in that program,” Ross said.
“Just like when we deliver to schools, we deliver lunches to those day camp programs so they can distribute it.”
Demand is increasing every year
In 2024, nearly 2 in 5 children in Alberta experienced food insecurity, up more than 80 per cent over the past five years, including a 25 per cent increase from the previous year.
Ross said that increased expenses across the board are the main culprit.
“If we think about our day-to-day lives and the expenses that we have, buying groceries or fueling up the car or paying for housing and all of these other things, it’s tough for families to keep on top of all the things,” she said.
“We’ve certainly seen the number of kids living with food insecurity grow. We’ve been fortunate that the brown bagging community has been able to respond by increasing the number of lunches we provide, but there’s so much more work to do to ensure we’re accessing every kid who needs food.”
Aside from donations, volunteering to make lunches is a critical part of BB4CK’s work, according to Ross.
“Every lunch is made and delivered by somebody who’s volunteering their time, whether that’s in the school year or the summer. Lots of folks volunteer on their own, whether it’s in the kitchen or driving to deliver lunches. Others volunteer in groups, whether that’s a classroom of kids down in the kitchen or sports teams and Girl Guides and scouts or corporate teams who come in with their work team,” she said.
“We run 11 kitchen shifts every single week, and eight of those are staffed by volunteer groups, so they really are critical to the work. We always welcome folks to learn about volunteering with us on our website, and they can apply there as well.”
