The first quarter of 2025 has already surpassed all expectations for everyone at I Can for Kids (iCAN). First, we were excited to report how our donors and supporters enabled us to reach a record number of kids in 2024 – nearly 42,000! Second, we welcomed three additional agencies to our partnership network to help us reach more kids in more communities. And third, we’re now thrilled to announce our expansion into rural areas across central Alberta, thanks to funding from Nutrien and our new collaboration with McMan Central based out of Innisfail.
“Nutrien is Feeding the Future by providing the nutrients and services farmers need to grow healthy, sustainable, and resilient crops around the world. As a global leader in agriculture, we work every day to strengthen food security. Our long-standing partnership with I Can for Kids allows us to help address food security, right here in Alberta. We’re elated to be alongside I Can for Kids as they expand their successful approach to providing dignified access to healthy food to rural Central Alberta, where many of our farmer customers are working tirelessly to grow the food we need here in Canada and around the world.”
– Chloe S., Manager, Community Relations and Investment, Nutrien
Planting seeds of hope and change in rural Alberta
Since iCAN launched the first year-round grocery gift card program in Canada back in 2020, people have continually asked whether our service model could succeed in a rural context. Although we were highly confident that smaller centres could easily adapt our approach, we soon recognized the need to demonstrate our certainty by bridging the urban-rural divide. In 2023, we mentored the Town of Drumheller to pilot their own successful program across their region. In 2024, we published a free guide that includes specific guidance for rural areas who wish to set up local initiatives. And in early 2025, we began to partner with McMan Central to launch and evaluate a rural grocery gift card program through their Family Resource Networks (FRN).
Growing together through the power of partnerships
McMan Central is an ideal partner for iCAN because we both focus on families with growing children and we both amplify our impact through partnership networks to reach as many households as possible.
The FRNs offer programs focused on child and youth development, parent education, family dynamics, and home visitation support. The staff at McMan Central coordinate the delivery of all programs and services directly through one of the FRNs or through a collaboration with their local partner agencies. McMan Central has started to extend our grocery gift card program to hundreds of food-insecure families and children living in or near the following communities :
- Drumheller
- Innisfail
- Lacombe
- Drayton Valley
- Rocky Mountain House
- Stettler
- Wetaskiwin
“Our partnership with I Can for Kids represents a significant step forward in supporting families facing food insecurity in rural central Alberta. By working together, we’re able to bring the innovative grocery gift card model to communities where traditional support can often be more difficult. This collaboration strengthens our ability to address the unique challenges of rural life, fostering resilience and a sense of belonging for those we serve. We’re excited to continue this meaningful partnership and expand its impact in the years to come.”
– Jen S., Senior Practice Specialist, McMan Central
Sprouting resilience in rural communities
More than 20% of Albertans – or greater than 650,000 people – reside in rural and isolated communities located far away from an urban centre. Based on recent statistics, we know that at least 178,000 of rural citizens struggle with food insecurity across our province. McMan Central has already identified at least 80 families in their catchment area who cannot afford enough healthy food for their growing children.
Rural residents face many unique challenges that increase their risk for food insecurity and create major barriers when trying to find support. The combination of these factors forms a complex web of obstacles for vulnerable families living in these locations. Grocery gift cards will help alleviate the stress of many different struggles that urban dwellers don’t often endure. McMan Central outlined the following list of burdens that create instability for the rural food-insecure families they serve:
- Limited job opportunities that lead to financial hardship and food insecurity
- Greater base costs for fuel, clothing, food, supplies, and other basic needs due to the added expense of transporting these items into outlying areas
- Higher expenses to meet specific health, allergy, or cultural dietary needs because grocery stores often need to place small, special orders for these types of products
- Little to no access to price competitions between different grocery store chains because most rural areas have only one or two food outlets other than convenience stores
- Smaller selection of fresh foods in local stores, including fruit, vegetables, dairy, and meats
- Much less opportunity to access support through limited community and social services
- Heightened stigma and lack of privacy when accessing food programs in close-knit, smaller communities
- Reduced ability to access a small number of food programs due to very limited funding, healthy food donations, and hours of operation
Cultivating a broader foundation of support
As iCAN extends our reach into rural Alberta, we’re not simply expanding the success of our existing model. We’re launching a more robust ecosystem of support that ensures more and more food-insecure families can gain equal capacity to weather any storm, regardless of where they live. We’d like to say thank you to Nutrien and McMan Central for empowering us to plant even more seeds of innovation in locations where the need is great and the challenges are greater.
Together with our partners, donors, and supporters, iCAN is propagating a fresh landscape where every child enjoys enough healthy food, all families have the resources to thrive, and entire communities blossom with greater resilience. Stay tuned as we share what we learn from this amazing initiative in some of our future communications!
When you donate today, you enable iCAN to amplify our program and reach a greater number of food-insecure children and families across Alberta who also need support for a range of other complex life challenges.
To join iCAN’s expanding list of donors, sponsors, and champions, check out the different ways you can get involved or donate. To stay updated on our work, please subscribe to our monthly newsletter.
About I Can for Kids Foundation
I Can for Kids works closely with multiple agency partners to target and distribute grocery gift cards to food-insecure families who are most in need. The iCAN grocery gift card program is a more dignified and inclusive approach to dealing with food insecurity, allowing families to shop where everyone else shops and to choose foods that are appropriate for their health and cultural needs. Explore their website to discover more about iCAN’s impact over the years.
For more information and media inquiries, please contact iCAN Executive Director, Bobbi Turko at bobbi@icanforkids.ca.
