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What we learned and what we did after the flood
It’s been a year since North York Harvest Food Bank faced one of the biggest challenges in our 40-year history.
On July 16, 2024, a torrential downpour hit Toronto. Nearly 100mm of rain fell in just three hours, leading to massive flooding and blackouts across the city.
At North York Harvest, our loading docks flooded, rain poured into the warehouse, our delivery truck was damaged, and our freezer broke.
The power outage caused us to lose a significant amount of fresh, refrigerated food intended to nourish our community — at a time when we were already running low on essential items.
Between the food and damages to our infrastructure, North York Harvest was faced with a devastating $50,000 loss.
But thanks to the overwhelming generosity of our community, we were able to rebound quickly to continue providing emergency food support to individuals and families in need.
Many of our partner agencies were also reeling from the flood. Because of the support we received, we were able to help our network with water damage repairs, and purchase new fridges and other equipment to ensure they could run community food programs safely again.
A Community Victory
We knew it wasn’t if we would flood again, but when.
North York Harvest worked with our partner agencies, residents, and community organizations to discuss the effects of the flood, and how we could move collaboratively toward solutions.
We were joined by then-Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, who amplified our concerns and supported our call for long-term solutions in a letter addressed to the prime minister.
On August 30, 2024, an investment of $323-million from the City of Toronto and the federal government was announced to bolster the Rockcliffe-Smythe area against future flooding!
Looking Ahead
In reality, the flood was a wake-up call.
This disaster made it clear that North York Harvest had outgrown our current space at 116 Industry St. — a place we have called home since 2015.
In 2015, we supported over 13,000 clients every month, now we serve 30,000 — a 130% increase.
On top of this, our social enterprise FoodReach supports 175 essential drop-in meal programs, food banks, school snack programs and other non-profits in delivering affordable food to communities that need it most.
Our warehouse is bursting at the seams with insufficient freezer, refrigeration and dry storage space, while we’re grappling with a leaky roof and broken equipment.
All of this is hindering North York Harvest’s ability to operate at full capacity and compromises a critical supply chain that supports 30,000 clients every month.
A Bold Path Forward
We can’t hold our breath every time it rains, and we can’t meet the rising needs of our community in our current space.
That’s why North York Harvest has launched a $6-million capital campaign to build a 30,000 sq ft. community food hub that will reimagine what a food bank can be.
We’re building a home for our community that can nourish thousands, provide stepping stones to stability, and power innovation and long-term solutions.
It will allow us to distribute more food, create local jobs, and build long-term solutions to food insecurity and poverty in our city.
What we learned from the flood
In times of crisis, community care is crucial: Compassionate people stepped up any way they could to ensure North York Harvest could continue distributing emergency food.
When we fight for our community, we win: Residents and community organizations have been raising the alarm bells about flooding for years. Together we made change happen.
Turning a crisis into a catalyst: The lease in our current space is ending, our infrastructure is failing, and the City of Toronto declared food insecurity an emergency. Instead of losing hope, we’re meeting the moment in the most transformational chapter in North York Harvest’s history. Join the movement today!
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