Education and Youth Engagement

Toronto youth have been engaged with North York Harvest since the food bank opened in 1986.  A more concerted effort emerged in 2004, when two teenage girls initiated youth-led food drives to support North York Harvest. We continue to engage a wide range of young supporters, and now work with over 100 schools each year. 

Our goals are to:

• Educate youth about hunger and poverty in Toronto
• Empower youth to take action through food drives, volunteering, community gardening, and civic engagement
• Inspire youth to raise awareness about hunger and its causes

How Can My Students Get Involved?

Teachers can choose between two workshop options:  a 3-part workshop series called Youth Take Action, and one-time field trip visit called Sort & Learn. Both are available for free to students in grades 4-12. 

Youth Take Action

North York Harvest is excited to offer a new series of workshops, Youth Take Action, in the 2012-2013 school year. Over the course of three workshops (including in-school workshops and a field trip to North York Harvest), students explore a range of community engagement initiatives, learning how youth awareness & action, food assistance, and community gardens all contribute to food-friendly neighbourhoods.

The purpose of this project is to educate youth about the roots of hunger and poverty in Toronto, and empower them to take action through food drives, volunteering, community gardening, and civic engagement. Through these workshops, we hope to contribute to building a socially engaged, civic-minded youth population inspired and empowered to fight hunger and its causes.

To book a Youth Take Action workshop, please contact Juneeja at 416-635-7771 ext. 48 or juneeja [at] northyorkharvest [dot] com.

Note: We are currently not taking any booking requests. Please check our website in September 2013 for updates.

Sort & Learn

Sort & Learn workshops are an opportunity for students to visit North York Harvest and help make a difference in their community.

In the Sort session of the visit, students sort our community food donations. The food is later delivered to our network of 60 food programs in northern Toronto.  In the Learn session of the visit, students explore the food bank experience. Through fun activities and insightful exercises, students discuss topics such as community development, poverty, hunger, healthy eating, and food security.

Sort & Learn workshops are available from early October to early May. To book a Sort & Learn, please fill in our online registration form.

Note: We are currently not taking any booking requests. Please check our website in September 2013 for updates.