On any given week in late fall, you might find Aart Schuurman Hess marching in the Rogers Santa Claus Parade, having lunch with a consul general, dressing up like the Grinch for a food-drive event, writing personal thank-you letters to donors or meeting with government representatives regarding new facilities.
That’s beside the daily responsibility he has of managing the Greater Vancouver Food Bank (GVFB), the largest food bank in British Columbia, which serves more than 26,000 people weekly and moves $8.2 million worth of food annually.
To say the holiday season is a busy time of year for the food bank is an understatement – it collects between 60% and 70% of its annual food and fund donations in the weeks leading up to Christmas.
While it’s good news that the GVFB remains one of Vancouver’s best-known charities, it’s not such good news for Schuurman Hess, who would rather see the food bank disappear, or at least change its mandate. He recalls clearly what his first impressions were when he became CEO in mid-2012.
“I was shocked by the fact that people had to line up for hours,” he said. “I was shocked by the racial slurs in the lineups, … by the quality of food that food banks would distribute, … and in the transactional relationships with our members, there wasn’t any love being given.
“I felt we had to do some extra work here to get us to a level where we could say we are providing healthy food, we are providing dignity and respect and we are looking for long-term solutions for our members.”
Those solutions include educating members about nutrition, food safety, cooking skills and preservation.
“I don’t believe in just handing out food,” he said. “I told the board that from Day 1. I said if you’re just looking for someone to hand out food, you’ve got the wrong guy.”
Schuurman Hess told them he was more solution-focused, that he wanted to find ways to get the food bank’s members out of the system.
“It became obvious when I started to visit the locations that we had, you know you start to meet the third generation of a family [all of whom had to use the food bank], it confirmed to me that we had to do things differently to ensure that generation No. 4 would not end up in the same lineup.”
A sense of the importance of basic food knowledge comes naturally to Schuurman Hess, 55, who has been connected to the industry most of his life.
Born in the Netherlands, he grew up in a small village where food came from one store or one market, and meals were basic and affordable. At 13 he began working for a baker, then at the street market, then as a server in a Michelin Star–rated restaurant as he pursued a desire to work in hotel management.
His knowledge of food systems grew as he worked for various airlines, first at KLM in the in-flight supplies department managing their catering contracts, then at airline food producer Delta Daily Food, where he oversaw production facilities in the U.K., Thailand and Dallas. The fact that his three children were born on three different continents underlines the amount of travelling his work required. Eventually he and his wife, Marie-Louise, an elementary school teacher, decided to find some stability.
Economic prosperity in Western Canada drew them to Calgary where, after a year of knocking on doors, he was recruited as chief administrative officer and eventually interim CEO of the humanitarian organization the Mustard Seed.
There he learned the art of running a non-profit.
“It’s still running a business,” he said, “and requires passion and people management.”
Jeff Dyer, CEO of Accessible Housing Calgary, was the chief operating officer of Mustard Seed when Schuurman Hess was chief administrative officer.
Schuurman Hess “had an uncanny ability to be both very human and completely business oriented,” Dyer said. “He always saw the human being in the story.”
According to Dyer, Schuurman Hess helped refinance the Mustard Seed’s $60 million building in downtown Calgary using a tax ruling to have it designated a municipality so it wouldn’t have to pay GST.
“He kept trying to bring the costs down so people who needed the housing most could afford it. He was rabidly creative.”
When Schuurman Hess became the interim CEO, Dyer reported to him. He was “very fair and generous,” Dyer said.
“He could hear you out on a challenging idea. He would listen intently, asking really good questions. Aart’s a smart guy. He respected people on the team and views of the team. Whether we were a bookkeeper, front-line staff members, we were treated as equals, which is very important for our organization.”
Both Schuurman Hess and Dyer agreed on the need to stop the cycle that perpetuated the food handouts.
“Aart would say, ‘We’ve got to think about putting ourselves out of business,’ because there are permanent solutions that have changed the landscape of the world’s vulnerable and marginalized people.
“And this is a guy who used to work at KLM making sure the food got on the plane. I think he looked at things systematically and like a project manager. He was a pretty revolutionary guy and an unusual suspect.”
Moving from Calgary to take up the CEO reins, Schuurman Hess saw in the GVFB a means to help people beyond the food line, to make connections over food.
“We know people are coming every week to pick up that food, so that’s where we have the ability to bring in other organizations that members can access to get the help they need,” he said.
Over the years, Schuurman Hess has guided the organization through a five-year strategic plan, helped develop new systems for its food distribution and education and made countless connections with supportive companies.
“Businesses can truly help non-profits by offering their expertise,” Schuurman Hess said. “Non-profits can come up with creative solutions but don’t have the skills to implement them.”
And, of course, with the buying power the food bank has, financial donations always go farther than food donations.
“There’s no ‘best before’ date for dollars, so donating money is more beneficial for the health of our members,” Schuurman Hess said.
When not at the food Bank, Schuurman Hess enjoys supporting his kids’ sports teams, fly-fishing and, especially, gathering around family dinner tables – connecting over food.
