I Can For Kids Foundation
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Mission Statement
Our mission is to empower food-insecure children and families with dignified options to purchase the food that meets their unique needs. We no longer see ourselves as a food charity. Instead, we transformed our response to ensure households in greatest need can maintain their human right to healthy food. We support kids for as long and as often as required throughout the entire year. For 50% of our recipients, a few months of support is all they need to get them through a challenging time, whereas severely food-insecure families require more assistance while they overcome major financial setbacks. Each household receives targeted support based on their unique life circumstances. We also collaborate with other organizations who advocate for long-term strategies that address poverty as the root cause of food insecurity. We endeavour to join forces with partners who wish to improve access to all basic needs and build a world where every child has the resources they need to thrive.
About This Cause
We used to give food to hungry kids… now we empower families to feed themselves. I Can for Kids (iCAN) operates a grocery gift card program that has created a major shift in how efficiently and effectively our province can help vulnerable children and families access enough healthy food. And our work is based on quality research. For over 40 years, Canada has tried to solve food insecurity by donating food to vulnerable children, families, and households. Yet study after study has shown that this approach is fraught with unintended negative consequences. It dictates what people eat without giving them choice or control over their diet. Most importantly, it doesn’t even begin to address the underlying cause: insufficient financial resources. Our income-based approach empowers families with a more dignified way to meet their basic needs and reduce their overall stress levels. That’s why we stopped giving food. We chose to take a bold step forward. The success of our model is built on longstanding partnerships with dozens of frontline social service agencies who have direct relationships with food-insecure families. We established an infrastructure and network that enables us to target our program to the thousands of children and families at highest risk. We support children of ALL ages throughout their developing years. Our Research & Evaluation We continually do our homework. We partnered with the University of Calgary to conduct research on how our new grocery gift card program impacts children and families living with food insecurity. We collect comprehensive feedback and insights from our frontline agency partners through an annual program evaluation. We also interview and survey our recipients to learn more about their experiences, perspectives, and recommendations. 100% of our recipients and agency partners prefer the grocery gift card model over a traditional food hamper program. Our approach is much easier to deliver, it prevents food waste, and it reduces negative impacts on the environment by eliminating the need for bulk food storage, refrigeration, and transportation. Grocery gift cards represent a barrier- and stigma-free way of empowering families to purchase the food that meets their unique cultural, religious, and health needs. Parents tell us that our program demonstrates unconditional trust in their ability to make the best choices for their kids. In contrast, food programs often leave them feeling devalued, discouraged, and ashamed. Our gift card recipients always share how the freedom to grocery shop with everyone else at a convenient time in the store of their choice restores their sense of pride, dignity, and belonging. Our new program is simply more inclusive, flexible, and environmentally responsible. Our Impact In difficult economic times, every dollar creates positive impact. iCAN invests 100% of donations to empower food-insecure families to purchase the foods they need. We cover operating expenses through our annual budget to ensure donors can reach the children who need support the most. In 2024, iCAN distributed $715,850 in grocery gift cards to empower thousands of families to fuel more than 41,500 children in more than 200 communities across Calgary and the surrounding area. These kids lived in households at higher risk for food insecurity, such as immigrant, refugee, Indigenous, visible minority, and single-parent families. About 30% of the children who receive support through our program struggle with a mental health issue, while 16% live with a physical disability and 25% have a neurological disability. Current Campaign Our 2025 fundraising goal is $2.3 million. To learn more about the impact of our program, please visit: https://icanforkids.ca/our-impact/