In early 2024, Food Banks Canada launched a set of national standards covering all areas of food bank operations. These benchmarks strengthen accountability and trust, ensure good practices, and equip food banks to serve their communities as effectively as possible. So far, over 360 food banks have achieved accreditation in the Standards of Excellence. 

It’s a major endeavour, but nobody has to undertake it alone: food banks are encouraged to ask questions, learn about opportunities to apply for funds, or request assistance at standards@foodbankscanada.ca. Also willing to lend a helping hand are Standards Ambassadors: people who have been through the accreditation process and who have generously offered to share their experiences, tips, and templates with the broader food bank network on The Exchange.* 

Overwhelm is a common initial reaction to the Standards of Excellence, and Pictou County Food Bank East in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, was no exception. But as chair Barb O’Hearn led her board into the process, that sharp intake of breath changed to an exhale pretty quickly. “Once I started it, I was surprised that a lot of the stuff was what we were already doing,” she says, adding that a stepwise approach helped to prioritize standards. “We went through the checklist item by item in meetings and made it a conversation.”  

Founded in 1989, Pictou County Food Bank East has an eight-person board and 60+ volunteers, some of whom have been active for over 30 years. They serve hundreds of clients from the surrounding communities, 40 percent of whom are children. It’s a busy place, especially on Wednesdays when they serve up to 120 households while receiving donations and making deliveries. 

To implement the Standards of Excellence, the food bank designated lead volunteers for each area and had them take charge of coaching their fellow volunteers. “Having a peer coaching a peer rather than a ‘big bad board’ seemed to really work,” she says.  

O’Hearn says the effort of achieving Standards of Excellence accreditation was worth it. “The value was consistency, not just with food banks across Canada but internally. There are no more grey areas,” she says. The achievement even led to a regular volunteer newsletter to keep the team on track. 

While Pictou County Food Bank East has accomplished accreditation, O’Hearn has empathy for those still working through the process. Not everyone has the same resources, she acknowledges. Asking for assistance from an accredited food bank could help to bridge the gap, she suggests, adding that her USB stick with Pictou County Food Bank East’s Standards documents is always at the ready to help another food banker. 

During a virtual drop-in session hosted by Food Banks Canada, O’Hearn shared an honest account of the challenges and benefits the Standards of Excellence brought for Pictou County Food Bank East and offered guidance that included: 

-Appoint volunteer champions: Finding lead volunteers to help coach others in maintaining the new standards took the pressure off the core team, plus gave the volunteers a sense that they were contributing to a larger goal. The food bank has gone on to apply this same approach to the board, moving it from an advisory role towards a working board with directors who take on specific portfolios and jobs, from secretary to media relations.  

-Work around busy times: Wednesdays are a powder keg at Pictou County Food Bank East, so adopting workarounds, such as weight estimates for common food donations, helps volunteers focus on the priority task of serving their clientele. Key to this shortcut is knowing the baselines already; for example, the weights of common food donations. 

–Pick the low-hanging fruit first: To gain an early sense of progress, Pictou County Food Bank decided to first address standards they were already meeting or close to meeting. Governance was a strong suit. Some other areas took more work. 

Now that her food bank is accredited, O’Hearn invites others to connect, as she’s happy to share approaches and documents that worked for them. 

To access recordings and resources from previous virtual sessions with Standards Ambassadors, contact knowledge@foodbankscanada.ca.  

*To register for accounts on The Exchange, a digital sharing platform for eligible food banks, write to knowledge@foodbankscanada.ca.