We rise by lifting one another

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OUR MISSION

Immigrant Link improves access to healthy food for immigrants and refugees by gathering and distributing useable, unsold food from grocery stores to the community at no cost.

PREVENT FOOD WASTE

Food is life. It brings us together. We can prevent food waste by recovering and re-distributing unsold food to community members. We ensure foods have purpose and work to solve food insecurity for over 3500 individuals in 25 locations across the lower mainland each month.

PROTECT OUR ENVIRONMENT

Food production is demanding on our environment through use of land, energy, and water. The more food we produce, the bigger the footprint in terms of social and economic costs and emissions of unsafe greenhouse gases (GHGs). We can protect our environment by reducing avoidable food waste.

REDUCE OUR CARBON FOOTPRINT

Food waste is very hard on the atmosphere. We add emissions when we are growing, processing, and transporting foods. And when we waste food or create unnecessary surplus, we must compost or put the waste in landfills which creates a meaningless and unrecoverable loss of the growing efforts.

CREATE VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

Food connects people to their communities, and volunteering in a food recovery program is like giving the gift of connection. We create volunteer opportunities to help new immigrants discover and learn about life in Canada.

NOURISH OUR COMMUNITY

Nutritious food is hard to access on a lower income. We nourish our community through food recovery and ensure ILCS clients receive a variety of foods to use in preparing wholesome meals and treats for their families at no cost to the client.

SUPPORT ECONOMIC GROWTH

Food recovery and re-distribution provides opportunities for immigrant families to save on basic living expenses. We support economic growth to help families get ahead with more savings in their pockets at the end of the week.

WHO WE ARE

In 2016, Immigrant Link Centre Society (ILCS) was formed as a charity focused on food recovery and re-distribution. Since then, we have grown to host volunteers from four continents and over 15 countries with a common goal of giving back for their new life in Canada.
Today, we are focused on an important mission to prevent food waste, protect our environment, and support economic growth for new immigrants and low-income families. We are committed to saving resources, energy, and time, while improving access to nutritious foods.

Impact the life of immigrants.

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OUR STORIES

Our story begins with a small group of immigrants who gathered to watch a documentary about food waste during an English as a Second Language (ESL) training program at Vanier Centre in Coquitlam.

Inside that program, a group of us formed the idea for a free food project called “Win Win”. We gathered unsold food from grocery stores with the goal to stop good edible food from entering landfills.

Once we started, we were amazed how much edible and nutritious food we could supply students inside the program for free. Today, we are focused on serving new immigrants with low-income and people who are seeking refuge in Canada.

We believe that no one should struggle to obtain the necessities of life. Help us end the struggle.

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Latest Events

14

APR

Immigrant Link Centre Society as a example of Local food systems and Supporters in Metro Vancouver

Apr 14, 2022 

30

DEC

One day in free food program

Dec 30, 2020

This is one day of what we do in our program.

11

oct

Vancouver's North Shore Covering

Oct 11, 2020 Vancouver's North Shore

We are expanding the free food program to other parts of Vancouver and new North shore is covered.

07

feb

Congrats to Save-On-Foods

Feb 07, 2018

Immigrant link and save-on-food started working together for free food program

See all Posts

What We Do

We prevent food waste, protect the environment, and support economic growth for immigrants and refugees.

Over the years, we have grown our connections to major grocery stores, including Save-on-Foods, Fresh Street Market, and IGA stores. And we have grown our connections to our volunteers and to the families we serve.

  • We now collect surplus foods, day old goods, and foods close to the best before date. We accept donations of fruits, vegetables, meats, dairy, deli, and baked goods. Recovered food is sorted daily by volunteers and delivered to families to take their mind off food insecurity. We work to meet dietary specifications and provide culturally appropriate foods, whenever possible.

  • In the beginning, we delivered food once a week to the families of 30 students attending the English as a Second Language (ESL) training program at Vanier Centre in Coquitlam.

Today, the demand for nutritious food is bigger than ever. We have now grown to 25 locations with nutritious food delivered 7 days a week to more than 3500 people per month. We also prevent 1600 tons of C02 emissions. ILCS collects and re-distributes over $5 million worth of food annually.

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People per month

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OUR EXECUTIVES

“The unselfish effort to bring cheer to others will be the beginning of a happier life for ourselves.”

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Igor Bjelac

Executive

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Basem B. Tawadrws

Executive

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Ali Haeri

Executive 

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Snezana Bjelac

Executive

Young-Bong

Young Bong

Executive

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RAISE YOUR HELPING HAND

ILCS improves access to healthy food for 3500 people per month at over 25 locations across the Lower Mainland. We need fundraisers to help us continue to distribute 900 tonnes of food annually.

Join the Fundraising Team

OUR VISION

Fight hunger and combat food waste.

Help us right now!

Simply call 1 (778) 819-3556 and we’d be happy to answer your questions.

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Your donation helps bring food to more families and expand our program to more neighborhoods.
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Start making a difference. Contact us now!

Get in touch today and start making the difference.

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#immigrant_link_centre_society
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(778) 819-3556

IMMIGRANT LINK CENTRE SOCIETY

Fighting Hunger and Combating Food Waste
We are focused on an important mission to prevent food waste, protect our environment, and support economic growth for new immigrants and low-income families. And, we are committed to saving resources, energy, and time, while improving access to nutritious foods.
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