BLOG The Stories of Us

2025 marks the Central Okanagan Food Bank’s 29th annual Set the Holiday Table matching campaign. Running the entire month of December, Set the Holiday Table matches all incoming individual donations up to a total of $100,000 until December 31st. This year, the campaign’s matching donor wishes to remain anonymous and let the impact of their kindness do the talking.

Set the Holiday has two goals- to reduce the stigma around those who use the food bank and to raise critical funds that allow us to continue meeting demand.

During Set the Holiday Table, we shares client stories to raise awareness of the many unique pathways that lead to an individual or family to need support. These stories go to show that there is no one type of person using the food bank and that it is difficult to judge what someone is going through that would bring them to seek food assistance.

More and more families and individuals are finding it difficult to keep up with rising costs of living and the increased cost of food in particular. From November 2024-October 2025, 26% of all clients served at COFB were new clients coming to the food bank for the first time assistance.

We will be posting stories throughout the month of December here- check back in for more relatable stories of asking for help. Ready to help us Set the Holiday Table? Donate here today and directly support local families like Rob’s.