2025 Impact Report
A smarter model gains momentum
A message from our founders
Dear friends,
In 2025, Alberta’s food insecurity crisis reached a heartbreaking new high. Nearly 2 in 5 kids – about 400,000 children – are growing up in homes where there isn’t enough money for consistent, healthy meals. This is the highest rate of all 10 provinces, and a powerful reminder that the traditional food bank model simply isn’t working for families doing everything they can just to get by.
That’s why your support means so much. By standing behind our grocery gift card program, you’re giving families what they truly need: dignity, choice, and the ability to provide nourishing food for their children on their own terms. You’re helping build a smarter, more compassionate way to alleviate food insecurity.
Because of you – our donors, our frontline agency partners, and our incredible volunteers –this model is gaining meaningful momentum. In 2025, we delivered on our commitment to empower more families, diversify our reach, scale our impact, and deepen our research.
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Last year, grocery gift cards benefited over 49,000 kids, the most in our history. Parents consistently tell us that this support eased their children’s stress, helped them focus better at school, strengthened friendships during lunchtime, and fuelled them with the energy they need to play and grow. You also provided relief to parents facing impossible choices between groceries, rent, bills, and other essentials – lifting a weight that no one should carry alone.
At the same time, your generosity helped us expand our reach:
- 6 new partner agencies joined our network, supporting new moms and babies, families with neurodiverse children, kids with learning difficulties, newcomers to Canada, and other more diverse populations.
- We expanded into Central Alberta, connecting with over 60 rural communities facing unique barriers.
- We launched our first collaborations with public healthcare, working alongside Primary Care Alberta Public Health and the Mosaic Primary Care Network.
Your support also enabled us to kick off a new two-part research study with the University of Calgary. This work deepens our understanding and strengthens our evidence-based approach.
To every partner, donor, and supporter, thank you for believing in a better way to address the real cause of food insecurity – not a shortage of food, but a shortage of income. You’re helping prove that meaningful support doesn’t have to be costly or complicated. We can leverage the grocery stores that already exist in our communities, partnering with trusted frontline agencies who ensure that every donor dollar goes directly to those who need it most. Because groceries belong in grocery stores, and families deserve to shop just like anyone else – confidently, with freedom of choice, in a store close to home.
Together, we are taking food insecurity off the table for more kids, investing in children and families who deserve stability, respect, and the chance to thrive.
Thank you for being part of this movement. We are deeply inspired by your compassion, and we’re excited to continue this innovative work with you by our side.
 Bobbi Turko Co-founder & Executive Director |
 Sutton Garner Co-founder |
When you give to I Can for Kids, you’re taking food insecurity off the table for more Alberta families – simply by empowering parents to shop at their neighbourhood grocery store, where everybody else shops.
Our numbers
Families who receive grocery gift cards get more than just food. They get the power to plan, purchase, and provide fresh and healthy meals their kids need, know, and love simply by shopping at their local grocery store. Thanks to your commitment and generosity, we targeted:
$879,850 in grocery gift cards to reach
49,300 kids living in
260+ communities in Calgary, surrounding areas, and rural Alberta
Our grocery gift cards are offered through
programs
operated by our agency partners – helping families overcome challenges in addition to food insecurity.
Thanks to an efficient team of
volunteers
who helped with our simple and efficient process – we’re grateful for their unwavering commitment.
We get the job done with
food warehouses,
transport trucks, or complex logistics – we leverage hundreds of grocery stores already in our communities.
Our team was working with Aamira*, a mother with several children, including a newborn baby. She had limited English and required a translator to communicate. She could no longer afford rent, so was living in a tent with her kids, while recovering from childbirth. Meanwhile, she was also navigating a way to leave her abusive spouse and move into a safe place with her children.
We provided Aamira with grocery gift cards from I Can for Kids twice. These gift cards helped the family feed themselves, buy infant essentials, and get lunches for the other children to take to school. This mom was extremely grateful to be able to purchase her own food to nourish herself and her family.”
*Family names in this report have been changed to protect their privacy.
Our families
Your support empowers food-insecure kids and families in their times of greatest need. Meet the people you’ve helped through a powerfully simple approach.
Get to know the kids you championed
Creating more positive outcomes
for kids with special needs
The Petrenko family has three young children all under age six – and two have special needs. They rely on consistent therapeutic services, and their mom who stays home with them full time. When their dad unexpectedly lost his job, the family’s already limited income became even more unstable. The children were at risk of missing out on the nourishment they needed to grow, learn, and fully participate in their programs. Grocery gift cards provided immediate stability. With reliable access to healthy food, the children were able to attend their support programs more consistently, and continue making progress in their developmental goals. The reduced financial stress also created a calmer home environment – allowing the kids to thrive and laying the groundwork for stronger long-term outcomes.
– Submitted by Lauren F, Step by Step Early Intervention Society
Get to know the parents you inspired
A little boy finds stability and hope
Gloria, a grandmother raising her three-year-old grandson Jackson, came to the Children’s Cottage overwhelmed and barely coping. She had chronic anxiety and depression, compounded by her adult daughter’s mental health challenges and worries over her grandson’s developmental delays. As costs rose, she sometimes had to choose between paying bills and buying food or diapers. The iCAN grocery gift cards arrived at a critical moment. They eased the financial strain, ensured Jackson had healthy food, and allowed Gloria to be more present and engaged. With that stability, Jackson was able to join a program that supports his long-term growth – giving both of them room to breathe, connect, and move forward with hope.
– Contributed by Desiree S, Children’s Cottage Society
Learn how you empowered families
Keeping the lights on when it mattered most
Dawn, a single Indigenous mother of three was waiting for additional government income support while battling pneumonia. Her kids felt the impact – most days their mother was sick and worried, and could not leave the house. Calgary Housing adjusted her rent to reflect her income change, but she had little to cover other bills or the costs of nourishing food for the growing children. With help from grocery gift cards, the family could stay in their home, keep the lights on, and sit down to healthy meals again.
– Provided by Claire J, Calgary Housing
Discover the life-changing impacts for children you helped
When lunchboxes tell a story
This year, our school welcomed many students who were new – to us, and often to the country. As teachers watched what children brought for lunch, whether they relied on the breakfast program, or came down quietly asking for extra food, patterns began to emerge. These small moments helped us see which families were struggling but didn’t yet know how to access available supports. Reaching out with I Can for Kids grocery gift cards has become a meaningful way to connect with them. It not only ensures students have the food they need, but also opens the door for families to feel seen, supported, and welcomed into our school community.
– Shared with us by a resource teacher at Connaught School
How families use grocery gift cards
Grocery gift cards quickly and directly address the underlying financial strain that prevents families from accessing enough healthy food. Parents use grocery gift cards to supplement and stretch their household food budgets. They have the freedom to choose the foods that best meet their cultural, dietary, and personal needs.
A full house of family and love
Janet and David care for four foster children. They believe in the importance of family – and they include the kids’ biological parents and siblings in occasions like birthdays, Christmas, and Thanksgiving. Celebrations are a full house. Everyone is welcome, and there is always room for one more.
But feeding that many people, especially during the holidays, can be overwhelming. Foster caregivers receive only a small monthly reimbursement, and rising costs make it difficult to provide the nourishing meals every child deserves.
This year, iCAN grocery gift cards made the difference. The support didn’t just fill plates. It created a warm, inclusive space where kids felt cared for, connected, and celebrated.
Our partners
Our frontline partners make it possible to address food insecurity with compassion and dignity.
Our model is based on the lived experience of families struggling with food insecurity and other life challenges associated with inadequate income. Our diverse network of frontline social service agencies, community, and public healthcare partners enables us to reach households with limited resources – while supporting them with additional programs and services. Staff in these organizations apply their experience and expertise to offer our grocery gift card program to those in greatest need.
In 2025, six new agency partners joined our network. We more than doubled the number of programs that have access to our grocery gift cards, expanding our reach to new communities and people at risk.
Providing critical supports
Our frontline partners tell us the grocery gift card program can be a lifeline for families in their most difficult moments.
It allows them to respond immediately in times of crisis and helps them build stronger, more trusting, relationships with the families they serve. This opens the door for parents and caregivers to ask for help and explore additional supports. Beyond supporting basic needs, our partners walk alongside families as they access other vital programming including:
Employment supports
Access to affordable housing
Mental health counselling
Child development and educational programming
Guidance in navigating government benefits
Collaborating with public healthcare
In 2025 we launched our first collaborations within the public healthcare system. These partnerships enable families facing food insecurity to receive grocery gift cards right where they’re already turning for help: through their healthcare providers. We’re thrilled to be working with Mosaic Primary Care Network, which serves a wonderfully diverse community of over 465,000 families across northeast and southeast Calgary. We’ve also partnered with three Primary Care Alberta prenatal and postpartum programs – our first time specifically targeting new mothers and babies during such an important stage of life.
These healthcare partnerships strengthen evaluation outcomes, cross-sector knowledge sharing, and the ability to measure health impacts. They are also showing just how naturally our model fits into existing health systems – another sign that a smarter, more dignified approach to food insecurity is truly gaining momentum.
We serve a complex population that is very diverse in terms of culture, language, and needs. Some face financial and employment barriers and struggle to provide reliable, healthy meals for their families. Many food programs have increased eligibility criteria or decreased funding, making them harder to access. iCAN’s program enables us to provide faster, more dignified support for families that require urgent access to food.
– Li-Lian L, Behavioural Health Manager, Mosaic Primary Care Network, Calgary
Expanding to Central Alberta and rural communities
In many rural communities, families are carrying an even heavier load. Limited job opportunities, fewer services, and higher basic living costs make it incredibly hard for some parents to keep food on the table.
For the first time, we have been able to bring our grocery gift card program to more than 50 rural communities in Central Alberta – made possible thanks to a new partnership with McMan Central (McMan) and generous support from Nutrien. Through 34 different programs and services, McMan helped food-insecure families access grocery gift cards. At the same time, they addressed challenges such as family trauma,social isolation, education and employment, and mental health concerns.
Families in rural communities gave us powerful feedback. They were more likely than city residents to say that the grocery gift cards reduced their worries about money and running out of food. And, in small towns where “everyone knows everyone”, privacy matters. It means parents can get help without fear of judgment – just comfort, relief, and a little more breathing room.
Kevin, a father of two young kids came to the Family Resource Network (FRN) after suddenly becoming their sole caregiver.
With a disability that prevents him from working, he relied on government supports. But caring for two little ones made his already tight budget even harder to stretch. A former client encouraged him to reach out – to find parenting groups, youth programs, and a community that could help him navigate this new reality.
The FRN team also helped Kevin through applying for benefits, provided iCAN grocery gift cards, and offered tips for grocery shopping. With this help, his kids could have school snacks and eat healthy, filling, and nutritious foods they enjoyed. They even got a little something special from Santa.
– Story contributed by Karen W, McMan Central, Innisfail
What’s ahead
The food insecurity crisis is still growing and far too many families are pushed to the breaking point. With the highest rate of food insecurity of all 10 provinces and the lowest minimum wage, the need around us is urgent and undeniable. But your support is helping us push back – one family, one meal, one moment of relief at a time. Because of you, we’re ready to keep this momentum going:
Reach more kids
You’ll help us distribute $1 million in grocery gift cards so more than 50,000 children across Calgary, surrounding areas, and Central Alberta can have reliable access to the food they need to grow, learn, and thrive.
Deepen frontline partner engagement
We’ll collaborate with our frontline agency partners to reach families faster, understand their needs more deeply, and amplify the impact of every grocery gift card shared.
Advance groundbreaking research
With your support, we’ll continue our research partnership with the University of Calgary – building stronger evidence for a smarter, more effective approach to alleviating food insecurity.
Inspire more organizations
We’ll collaborate with more organizations who are motivated to adopt our model, expanding dignity-based support beyond our local area.
Shift the system – one bold step at a time
We’ll continue to raise our voices to change the conversation about food insecurity – pushing for approaches rooted in dignity and the simple belief that every family deserves to shop in their local grocery store like everybody else.
Why you give
Our generous donors are fuelling a bold, dignified response to Alberta’s food insecurity crisis – providing hope, relief, and stability for families who struggle to make ends meet. Each of you have personal reasons for giving, yet we all share the profound desire to foster positive change in the lives of children and families impacted by food insecurity.
In your own words:
At TC Energy, connection is at the heart of who we are – and we’re committed to using that strength to make a real difference in the communities where we operate. I Can for Kids is doing vital work in Alberta at a time when so many families are struggling. Their community-based approach helps ensure kids have access to the nutrition they need to be healthy and thrive. We’re proud to support I Can for Kids as they strengthen families today and help build healthier, more resilient communities for the future.
TC Energy
One of the great things about Inter Pipeline is we continually look for new ways to give back. Partnering with iCAN for Kids is another great opportunity to do just that and support the communities where we live and work. Our teams were happy to partner on the rural grocery gift card program. It helped provide meaningful support to families in places like Stettler and Drumheller, ensuring assistance is available when it’s needed most.
Brent McPherson, Pipeline Field Operations, Inter Pipeline Ltd.
InterPipeline
Education is one of our priorities, and we know that kids can’t learn without good fuel. But I Can for Kids grocery gift card program provides more than just food. It provides families autonomy, choice, dignity, and the power to provide for their children in the way that works best for them. We also value that families are connected to the program through other trusted social agencies. Food insecurity rarely exists on its own – it’s often a sign of deeper struggles in the home. By partnering with other agencies, families can get support that also addresses these broader needs, with grocery gift cards being just one meaningful piece of the picture.
Kathy Prosser, The Prosser Charitable Foundation
What inspired our support of iCAN is their willingness to rethink how we respond to food insecurity. Shifting from food hampers to grocery cards restores choice and dignity for families, reduces barriers, and deepens support through trusted front-line relationships already in place with families. It’s a thoughtful approach that complements existing food supports while offering families greater choice and flexibility. We’re proud to support a program that helps families today while building a scalable, shareable model that communities across North America can learn from and implement.
Jessica Peters, Chair, Calgary Foundation Children, Youth and Families Committee
In 2021 we embarked on finding a partner charity. Someone to help us give back. We thoroughly researched our options with a special emphasis on low administrative costs. I Can for Kids jumped off the page as the standout in that metric. And then when we looked into their mission and function, we knew we had a winner. iCAN ensures that parents don’t have to worry about how they’re going to feed their children. And it does it in a way that preserves dignity. We’ve been a very happy partner for five years. We look forward to many more years.
Alex Tindale, Founding Partner
Solar YYC
I Can for Kids is addressing food insecurity with an innovative and impactful approach that aligns well with CHAS’ work of improving the health and well-being of children. We also appreciate the collaboration between I Can for Kids and their partner agencies, many of which CHAS also supports. CHAS members often get involved too – volunteering time to prepare the grocery gift cards for distribution into the hands of people who need them most. CHAS congratulates Bobbi and Sutton on growing the organization from grass roots to the thriving organization it is today.
Jer Cox and Geri Moon, Committee Co-Chairs
CHAS Requests
Closing reflections
So much of what we call food insecurity is invisible.
It’s the mom who skips meals so her kids can eat. It’s the dad who smiles in public while privately carrying stress that most people will never see. It’s the quiet fear of not knowing how they will make it to the end of the month.
And when they walk into a grocery store and pay like everyone else, something shifts.
Because in that moment, they aren’t “a client.” They aren’t “a number.” They aren’t “a problem to be managed.” They’re just parents doing what parents do – taking care of their families.
And that is dignity.
Thank you!
Your commitment – as donors, partners, volunteers, and supporters – has made this another incredible year. Thank you for being part of this movement and carrying our momentum forward. And thank you for helping iCAN take food insecurity off the table, one mom, one dad, one child, one family at a time.