As the Winter Food Drive wraps up, we are absolutely astounded by how the community came together to support your neighbours in need! Your holiday spirit and eagerness to make a difference in the lives of people that are hungry was nothing short of incredible!
All of your efforts raised $270,000 & 250,000 lbs. of food!
From the food drives…
To generous financial donations…
To even some really creative fundraising ideas…like Ferrero holding a product sale in the lobby of their building. It sold out quickly and had a line up right out the door!
It’s amazing what a group of generous and community minded people can achieve when they get together!
You even booked the sort room for every session available to help sort the groceries coming in from the drive!
Our friends from Brand Active sorted a whopping 10,068 lbs. of food for families in need!
Our Winter Public Sort was booked to capacity with volunteers more than a month before the event!
Including City Councillors Shelley Carroll & Frank Di Giorgio
Even Mayor John Tory stepped in to help!
Your time and effort was absolutely awesome!
Because of YOU we can provide almost 1 MILLION meals to people right here in Toronto!
Kids will enough enough to eat…
Shelters for teens will be able to provide well rounded meals…
Community members can get together to bond over the joy of food…
At this time of year, it feels like more people are showing that extra bit of kindness towards others! Here at North York Harvest, I see it every day but more so during the winter months. There is just so much joy and holiday cheer that people have and they want to share it with those around them.
Don’t you notice the extra bit of kindness at this time of year? It’s even the smaller things like holding a door for someone or paying that extra 5 cents they need for their morning coffee. It can make someone’s day just so much brighter.
Kindness is powerful. It can completely transform your day and that of people around you.
Did you know the many advantages of kindness?
Kindness can relieve stress.Doing something nice for another person makes you feel good.
“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.” ~Dalai Lama
“A single act of kindness throws out roots in all directions, and the roots spring up and make new trees.” ~Amelia Earhart
Kindness strengthens relationships. When you perform an act of kindness for another there is just a new unspoken bond between the two of you. When it is a larger act of kindness among many people – such as sponsoring a refugee in need, a group volunteer activity or running a food drive at work – it brings a sense of community between you, your friends, your coworkers and those that benefit from your kindness.
“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.” ~Leo Buscaglia
Kindness can make a difference in someone’s life. You might not know it, but letting another person go ahead of you in line could be the highlight of his or her day, week or even month. You never know what someone else could be going through.
“Be a rainbow in someone else’s cloud.” ~Maya Angelou
There are just so many random ways that you can show a little extra kindness this holiday season.
Here are a few ideas:
Visiting a retirement home to spend time with someone who is lonely
Purchasing a coffee for a stranger
Putting some of your extra change in an expired parking meter
Shoveling your neighbour’s driveway
Send a thank you letter to your local fire and police departments
Compliment someone
Take a friend to a movie
Another easy way to share kindness is to contribute to our make a donation for people in your city that really need it! Every month over 16,000 children, parents, seniors and people on their own will come into our programs because they don’t have enough food to eat.
It’s that time of year! When your family will celebrate another year shared together. Usually the celebrations feature an abundance of wonderful food – so much food that it can cause many to start thinking about their new year’s resolutions.
Though filling your belly with delicious and decadent foods is part of a holiday tradition, it starts to make me think of my neighbours in need. While many people will be indulging in large dinners and treats, too many other people in our city won’t even have enough food to put on the table.
“It’s not just the food, its knowing there is someone in our community we can trust, someone who will be there for us.” – Isha – Read Isha’s Story
That someone is YOU!
This December over 13,000 children, parents and grandparents will come to the food bank. Because of YOU, they will receive the food they need to feed their families.
Join us this December to Light Up the Holidays with the Gift of Food!
The Winter Food Drive starts today with a goal of raising $250,000 and 250,000 lbs. of food.
Together we can make a huge difference.
Get involved and sprinkle a little extra joy into the holiday season.
Not sure what kind of items to donate? Here’s a handy list of food items that are in high demand, especially around this time of year. (Don’t forget – no expired food please)
The top 5 needed items are:
Baby Food
Canned fish
Canned chickpeas and other beans
Cooking oil (personal sized bottles)
Soup
You can provide hope and joy to a family in need this holiday season!
Thank you for generously supporting your community!
This is Isha’s story. But it is a story familiar to so many people in northern Toronto.
Isha lives with her 2 siblings, mom and grandma in public housing in northern Toronto. Her mom works several jobs and her grandma is elderly and struggles with failing health. Isha often has to take care of the meals for her family.
“Mom works a lot so I help by cooking and getting food for school ready but by the end of the week the fridge is usually empty.”
Often skipping lunch so her two younger siblings have enough to eat she is grateful for the afterschool program that she can attend. “They get some good food for us and on Wednesdays we cook a whole meal together and I can take leftovers home. Usually it’s only a day or 2 until mom can buy more groceries. But when it’s longer, we can go to the program and get some extra food to help us get through. I’m not sure what my family and I would do without this help,” she shares. “It’s not just the food, its knowing there is someone in our community we can trust, someone who will be there for us.”
This is the impact that you have. When you donate to North York Harvest Food Bank, we make sure there is enough food for the people who need it most.
Help people just like Isha by making a gift today!
CBC has been a part of every Canadian’s life since 1936. No matter whom you are, what city you’re in, how much money you make, if you were born here or immigrated – you know the CBC. There’s no easier way for Canadians to feel connected to each other, than by hearing the stories from the CBC. I’ve never been to Nunavut, but because of the CBC I can hear stories from the families that call it home.
The CBC brings Canadians together and on December 4, it will be hosting their annual Sounds of the Season bringing us together in support of food banks. It’s a chance for Canadians to get into the holiday spirit and unite in support of one incredible and worthy cause – feeding your community. What better way to kick off the season than to be a part of Sounds of the Season?
Last year $36,906 was raised for North York Harvest – that’s 110,718 meals for Canadians struggling with hunger. We are incredibly grateful to CBC and everyone that participated and donated to the event. It really made an impact on the lives of the 13,000 people that North York Harvest serves each month.
Even though the weather is cold and frightful, the season still has a warm, cheery feeling when you come together with your community. Whether you plan on celebrating the holidays or not, join us in celebrating the community and make a huge difference in the lives of people that are hungry.
So on December 4th and all through December, join North York Harvest and CBC in celebrating this wonderful holiday season! Click HERE to join in on the festivities! (Don’t forget to designate you gift to NYH)
Thank you for generously donating to North York Harvest and lighting up the holidays with the gift of food. Because of YOU, families in northern Toronto will not go hungry.
Have you ever wondered what it is like to volunteer at your local food bank? We talked with Madelaine, a North York Harvest volunteer to find out.
Madelaine has been volunteering ever since she was 14, an example learned from her mother. Once Madelaine retired, she started looking for a volunteer position in her community. She was thrilled to know NYH was right in her neighbourhood. Madelaine knows of the struggles of not having enough to eat. During World War II in Germany, her parents sometimes did not have enough food available.
I asked her about any surprises she had when she first started working in the food bank, and there definitely were a few. She was taken aback to see that so many people in her own backyard do not have enough to eat. She also noticed the lack of community space for programs, “It’s unfortunate that the city doesn’t provide a free location for the food bank,” she says. With over 13,000 individuals using North York Harvest’s services each month we work really hard to ensure there is space for all our programs.
Volunteering is obviously a very important aspect of Madelaine’s life, “Everyone works together as a team. We work hard. I am tired by the end of my shift but I find it quite rewarding.” But I couldn’t help but ask her how she stays motivated to keep coming week after week. She told me she volunteers with the food bank because of her love of helping people and being able to interact with the clients, volunteers and staff. Because the people that use the food bank services are right in Madelaine’s neighbourhood, she sees many of them outside of her volunteering. “I run into a lot of clients. Most of them stop and talk with me on the street or at the mall.”
As a longtime food bank volunteer, Madelaine sees first-hand what kinds of foods are needed the most. Most people need milk and vegetables, though both can run low come the end of the month.
A typical food hamper from a NYH food bank
As different people have many dietary needs, she does tend to get special requests. Many people ask for Kosher, Halal or vegetarian foods. Madelaine has got to know many of these clients well and does her best to help them if she can. “Most of the food is donated so we only have what we get, but if we have it, I will give it to them,” she told me with a smile.
Though it can be tough to realize many people don’t have enough to eat, Madelaine can see the silver lining in the kindness of others. She recalls a time it was near the end of her shift and she had given the last bag of rolls to a woman. The last client of the shift came in right after and Madelaine had let that person know that unfortunately, they were out of bread. “The woman who had the last package of rolls offered them to the other client. The other client insisted that they share. I was very touched.”
Madelaine’s philosophy in life is to treat people the way she would like to be treated. She also believes that people should volunteer their time at organizations like North York Harvest because they couldn’t exist without volunteers. “We all need to help each other.”
When asked what one could do if they didn’t have time to volunteer? “They can donate!” says Madelaine immediately. “Food, or especially money so we can buy the food we need the most.”
Here at North York Harvest we appreciate our many volunteers that assist with every aspect of the organization. It really does ‘take a village’ and we couldn’t run without you. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact lisa@northyorkharvest.com
Want to help but are too busy right now to volunteer? No problem. Donate securely online and we will ensure that money goes to helping the clients that Madelaine serves so faithfully.
It’s that time of year again where we all get dressed up in our favourite costumes and scare up some fun.
One thing that is truly scary though, is hunger in Canada. Did you know that 13,000 of our neighbours use the food bank every month? Another scary fact is that 1/3 of the food bank users are children.
Yet with your help and the support of some fantastic initiatives put together by caring youth in our community, this Halloween can be about more than costumes and candy. This Halloween, join NYH and some wickedly awesome people to make hunger disappear.
Trick or Eat is truly a great initiative put on by youth in Canada. During Halloween, thousands of students from across Canada will go door to door collecting food and funds for community organizations (like North York Harvest)! It’s a great experience for young people to come together as a community and make a difference when it comes to hunger in Canada.
In preparation for Trick or Eat – Meal Exchange has organized a #TweetUp to discuss hunger in Canada. We hope you can join us!
We will be discussing food insecurity in Canada. What people are doing about it and what impact the newly elected federal government could have on the issue.
Then when you go trick-or-treating on Saturday, don’t forget to ask people to give you a food item along with your candy.
We Scare Hunger is an initiative to assist with the growing food bank use in Canada. This Halloween, Instead of just trick or treating, join NYH and Free the Children, to collect non-perishable items for the food bank. What a great way for your kids to help others while having fun at the same time!
So sign up today! All it takes is a group of generous individuals like you to get together and dress up for the cause. Not only will you get to help over 13,000 people that use NYH food banks every month but you might get some candy too!
Signing up is easy! Contact Leslie leslie@northyorkharvest.com , put on your costume and get ready to Trick-or-Treat on Saturday.
This Halloween, let’s trick or treat for a city without hunger.
