Annual Stuff A Bus helps address growing need at Calgary Food Bank

Volunteers with Calgary Transit and Calgary Co-Op stores across the city were busy assisting Calgarians Saturday, filling transit buses with donations during the 33rd annual Stuff A Bus campaign.

Last year, Calgarians donated more than 72,000 pounds of food and $80,000 in support of the Calgary Food Bank. Calgary Co-Op communications and loyalty director Sage Pullen McIntosh told reporters this event is always a big day.

“To be able to see so many people coming in, buying food hampers, buying items from the wish-list or donating at the till; coming into the transit buses to make those donations,” McIntosh said. “We’re really proud to be doing this again.”

Calgary mayor Jeromy Farkas browsed the aisles of the Oakridge Co-Op location with Calgary Food Bank president and CEO Melissa From. After placing his donation on the bus, Farkas said addressing important issues in the city will require collaboration.

“There’s a lot of debate around poverty reduction, food insecurity, housing precariousness,” Farkas explained. “We need all order of government working together, and that’s really what our council is committed to doing.”

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According to the Calgary Food Bank 135,526 unique individuals accessed services between Sept. 1, 2024 and Aug. 31, 2025. Of those, 63 per cent were adults and 37 per cent were children.

Melissa From with the Calgary Food Bank says demand doesn’t stop.

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“I feel a bit like a broken record,” From said, “because I feel like it’s been two-and-a-half years of, ‘We’re feeding more people, we’re feeding more people’. I’m not sure I see the end of that crisis.”

Across the province, numbers are climbing as well. In Hunger Count 2025, Food Banks Canada showed that with 127 food banks reporting, there was a 21.8 per cent increase in food bank usage between 2024 and 2025. More than 36 per cent of those in need were children, followed by individuals aged 31-44.

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“On any given day 800 households in our city are coming to the Calgary Food Bank for 7-10 days worth of food,” From said. “We are making sure that they get a really well-balanced diet, and that they get what they need, but we are definitely getting stretched to capacity.”

From said early indicators for 2026 show there will be no slowing down.

“When we look at some of the economic projections going into 2026, inflation is still going up,” From noted. “Even slowed, the reality is it hasn’t gone away and it hasn’t gone down.”

From acknowledged that while not everyone can spare money or food to help those in need, time has value too.

“Three hundred Calgarians come to the Calgary Food Bank every day to volunteer their time,” beamed From.

Monetary donations of any size can go further with the Calgary Food Bank. From notes that for every dollar they receive, Alberta taxpayers save $9.84.

The results of Saturday’s Stuff A Bus campaign will be released soon.