Our Policies
1
Respect
We provide a safe, welcoming, and respectful environment, and ask for the same consideration from our clients in their interactions with our staff and volunteers.
We believe everyone has the right to:
-
Be treated with patience, understanding, dignity, and respect.
-
Be treated equitably.
-
A safe physical and emotional space.
2
Confidentiality
Your privacy is important to us. We work to protect your privacy however we can.
-
Photos and videos are not allowed on site.
-
We do not check addresses or incomes.
-
All staff and volunteers receive training in client care and confidentiality.
-
Any information we receive from you will never be shared with any other party without your consent.
3
Health and safety
We follow all government issued health and safety directives with the goal of keeping each other safe. We work to meet best practices in food safety and client care, outlined in Food Banks Canada's Standards of Excellence.
If a client experiences any barriers to accessing Food Bank food and support, we commit to working to overcome them.
About the Cortes food bank
We have been serving the Cortes community since 2002 as a volunteer-run, donation-supported organization. In 2022, in order to better mee the needs of our clients, we became a non-profit society under the charity umbrella of the Southern Cortes Community Association. This has allowed us to add new staff roles and expand our services to meet an increase in need.
We are supported by:
-
donations from community members
-
food supplies from our regional partners
-
funding from grants
-
leadership from volunteer board of directors
-
feedback from clients and oversight from members
-
day-to-day operations from our part-time staff
-
partnerships with neighbours and other community organizations
We are a member of Food Banks BC. and follow their Ethical Food Banking Code, as well as Food Banks Canada's Standards of Excellence. They support us with advice, funds, and access to their network of regional and national partners.
What we're here to do
Vision
A hunger-free, food-secure, resilient Cortes Island.
Mission
To work diligently and creatively to provide healthy food to those in need. To eliminate hunger, and improve food security on Cortes Island. To serve the communities of T’oq, Squirrel Cove, Mansons Landing, and Whaletown.
Values
Integrity
We are accountable to those we serve and honourable in our actions. We work to earn the trust of our community.
Respect
We see and respect the inherent value and worth of every person. We strive to create safer spaces and reduce barriers.
Collaboration
We share resources and work collaboratively towards common goals.
Responsiveness
We adapt and respond to changing conditions with timeliness, flexibility, and innovation.
As a member of Food Banks BC, we are committed to following the Ethical Food Banking Code. This means we:
-
Provide food and other assistance to those needing help regardless of race, national or ethnic origin, citizenship, colour, religion, sex, sexual orientation, income source, age, or mental or physical ability.
-
Treat all those who access services with the utmost dignity and respect.
-
Implement best practices in the proper and safe storage and handling of food.
-
Respect the privacy of those served, and maintaining the confidentiality of personal information.
-
Do not require payment of any kind for donated food or consumer products, at any time, from those assisted by our respective programs.
-
Acquire and share food in a spirit of cooperation with other food banks and food programs.
-
Strive to make the public aware of the existence of hunger, and of the factors that contribute to it.
-
Recognize that food banks are not a viable long-term response to hunger, and devoting part of our activities to reducing the need for food assistance.
-
Represent accurately, honestly, and completely our mission and activities to the larger community.
Our goals
Strategic priorities for 2024–2025
We will bring in as much perishable and non–perishable food as we can, distributing it equitably and respectfully.
We will carefully manage our finances and food supplies in order to maximize the quantity and quality of food we provide to our clients.
We will work with local and regional partners to access and deliver food supplies, collaborating with other food banks, community organizations, and food producers and retailers.
We will communicate in a clear and reliable manner so that those in need know how to access our food and services.
We will collect feedback from clients and partners with the goal of improving choice, reducing barriers, and building trust. We research and implement improvements to our services and operations.
We will strategize and deliver on hunger-eliminating food security initiatives, including building infrastructure and increasing our operational capacity.
We will represent the collective interests of those we serve through advocacy, while working innovatively and cooperatively to reduce local and regional food insecurity.
Board of Directors
Our directors are residents of Cortes Island who share a common passion for recovering and redistributing food to any neighbours who need it.
We all have diverse lived experiences of being hungry and struggling to make ends meet. This informs us as we work together with care and commitment, centering the needs of clients.
Board members serve one year terms and are voted in annually by the Cortes Island Food Bank Association membership, following the process outlined in our bylaws.
Cortes Island Food Bank Board of Directors
2024–2025
-
Beatrix Baxter (they/she)
-
Helen Hall (she/her)
-
Izabelle Perry (she/her)
-
Samantha Statton (she/her)
-
Filipe Figueria (he/him)