Fed Up

Dear UVSS Members,

We are facing an urgent food security crisis. According to our recent survey, 63.8% of students at the University of Victoria are experiencing some level of food insecurity. Furthermore, 74.5% of students believe that the university is not doing enough to address the rising cost of living for students.

The impact of this crisis has been felt heavily by our food bank, which has seen an unprecedented increase in usage over the past two years. As a result, we have accumulated a deficit of $200k for this year with no way to recoup those losses. While food banks are a vital resource for stabilizing food security, we are struggling to meet the increasing demand for our services.

In an effort to address this crisis, we have received donations from the GSS, Continuing Studies, as well as alumni and staff donations during Stock-tober, which have helped us to reduce our deficit to $135k. However, we still have a long way to go to fully stabilize our food bank.

In previous requests for aid, we were told that the University of Victoria does not have the budget to support this critical food security initiative due to historically low rates of international and domestic student enrolment. This raises the question: could the reason for low enrolment be that students cannot afford to attend the University of Victoria without support?

In light of these circumstances, we are launching a new campaign to raise funds and address student food insecurity.

We are #FedUpUVIC.

We are requesting a one-time donation of $150k from the University of Victoria, as well as 100 hours of labour from their fundraising department, to help stabilize our food bank for the next year while we work towards ensuring its long-term sustainability.

Join us in taking action to address this pressing issue. If you would like to donate to the UVSS Food Bank or know someone who does, please follow the link below.