Each and every year you WOW us with your incredible support to help those in the community who otherwise may go without something to eat.
This year was no different and again you went above and beyond in making a difference in the lives of people that use your local food banks.
Enjoy the Sept-Dec 2016 Review!
Hunger doesn’t hibernate and neither did you during the 2016/2017 Winter Food Drive! Because of your INCREDIBLE support, funds, volunteer time and enthusiasm we raised OVER $250,000 & 250,000 lbs. of food!
This means that we can provide 750,000 meals to people that are in need of food this winter. THANK YOU!
There were more than 200 food drives in our great city run by families, volunteers, businesses, schools, faith groups, community groups and more.
Some highlights of the Winter Food Drive include:
The TRCA has been a community partner of NYH for a number of years but recently we have done more projects and programs together. All of the TRCA staff are involved in food and fun fund events to support of the work of NYH!
They’ve collected food, held raffles and draws, hosted food events and had a great time doing it!
During the winter food drive, the TRCA came in to sort food and also held their annual holiday party in support of providing 5,525 meals this winter to families in our communities.
Delarie Murphy, Mutsa A Mawora-Lewis and Sarkis Kurkjian are international students from Citi College . They joined the Winter Food Drive and proved it doesn’t take many people to make a BIG impact. Hailing from Syria, Jamaica & Trinidad; these incredible students raised 530 lbs. of food! Not only that but they knew that many people appreciate food that is familiar when visiting the food bank – so they made sure to donate food they enjoy from back home. Food bank users come from all backgrounds and it is greatly appreciated when they feel comfortable with the food they feed their families.
The Redtastic team is a group of volunteers that dedicate their time to support Kadian when she runs hundreds of sort groups throughout the year. Jane, Janet, Gord, Sari, Bonnie, Linda, Haley, Steve, Enzo, Laura and Will are always reliable and make a big difference in the warehouse. During the winter food drive they were extremely helpful by providing guidance and support to not only Kadian but to new volunteers. Even when a group isn’t scheduled they will make time to come sort during the slot available. They are incredibly dedicated and we couldn’t sort through all of the donations that make it on the food bank shelves without them!
We had a tie this year for the largest food drive. Schools around the city are huge contributors to the food drives and this year Ledbury Park PS & Faywood ABC both raised an incredible 4500 lbs. of food EACH! That will provide 13,500 meals to the community!
Michael Bros. Excavating has been a donor to NYH for many years. A company run by siblings Peter, Tullio and Rosemary; they care deeply about giving back to their community.
This year they encouraged employees, vendors and contractors to join them in providing food for families in need. They raised an incredible 2,714 lbs. of food and came by the office 4 times to drop off their donations.
“We are very proud of our employees and brokers and value everyone’s involvement and cooperation. We will definitely encourage our group to once again, collect and drop off non-perishable food in the spring for our Easter Drive.” says Rosemary.
Thank you so much to everyone that put their time, effort, funds and support into making this the best food drive yet!
Thousands of people right in your community are able to access the food they need to get by this winter because of YOU! Thank you!
We are amazed as always by the tremendous support we received during the winter food drive and look forward to sharing a food friendly 2017 with you!
2016 has come to a close. It’s been quite the year, hasn’t it? Whether you had a great year or can’t wait for 2017 to start, we can all agree that a lot has happened over the past 365 days.
Here at NYH, there has been a lot of excitement and progress over the past year. We’ve seen many accomplishments and triumphs thanks to our amazing clients, volunteers, donors, staff and supporters! We wouldn’t have had such a terrific year without YOU!
I asked my colleagues in the office, warehouse and on the front lines what their favourite memories of 2016 were and got quite an impressive response!
I considered doing one of those end of year top ten lists but then realized that I can’t decide which is the best one! So here, in no particular order, are some of the great milestones, achievements and moments from 2016!
Of course I couldn’t start off without saying THANK YOU for providing food to people in our community! This year we served more than 15,000 people every month and distributed over 2.3 MILLION lbs. of food!
On top of putting food on the table for our neighbours in need, there were many other exciting things happening this year, including:
This year NYH partnered with Learning Enrichment Foundation to bring healthy meals and snacks to over 1400 kids in childcare programs throughout the city.
For 3 months this year, NYH was able to run a community kitchen in the Lawrence Heights neighbourhood. Each week, participants came together to learn cooking skills and enjoy a meal together. Learn more about Mission Kitchen here!
The Oriole Food Space ran a series of community kitchen programs in partnership with Flemingdon Health Centre and Working Women Community Centre, particularly aimed at Syrian refugees. We trained a group of almost 20 Arabic speaking newcomers in food handling and food safety, necessary skills in securing employment in the food sector.
This year NYH got into the exciting world of food production! We partnered with FoodShare & Foodstarter to form a unique partnership to produce a soup that would help our community meet their food needs. With the help of students and volunteers, we were able to produce a dry lentil soup that will be sold through FoodShare’s Good Food Boxes & Grab Some Good pop up markets. Each soup sold will put a soup on the food bank shelf for someone hungry in the community.
This was first year we were able to distribute a healthier hamper for those receiving the Toronto Star Santa Claus Fund Hampers. Every hamper included perishable items including eggs, cheese, apples and more!
Many of our clients were able to visit community farms in and around the city to see first hand where some of the fresh and nutritious produce that goes to their table comes from.
A comprehensive client survey was conducted in our food banks. Results are being put together now and will be used to guide future programming to ensure clients receive the best service possible!
Using our warehouse space, we have embarked on a training program for low income individuals to learn skills for the workplace. Students will learn technical and employments skills as well as receiving certification for Forklift driving, safe food handling and WHMIS.
Lawrence Heights Community Food Space found a new home at 6 Pengarth Court. LHCFS is also our first community food space to move to the new appointment based model. This allows clients to have an appointment at the food bank to ensure less wait time, giving them better access to services and supports, and a personal touch.
Our frontline staff have had extensive training over the past year in non-violent conflict resolution, working in communities that experience gun violence, trauma informed care, food handlers certificates, developing a community of practice, program development, evaluation and implementation
This year we were honoured with the Advocacy Award from the Ontario Association of Food Banks recognizing our efforts towards addressing hunger in the community.
This year we celebrated our donors at Taylor’s Landing. It was a great opportunity to connect with some amazing people that are helping us provide our services in the community.
There are so many other great memories from 2016 and this was only just a few.
Here’s to an even more amazing 2017 helping our community meet their food needs!
What is it that makes you give?
We all have our own reasons why generosity and sharing is important. We can also show it in different ways. Like making a monetary gift to charity, volunteering or even holding the door open for a stranger.
So we asked some of our amazing donors and volunteers – why do you give?
This post is all about YOU and how absolutely GRATEFUL we are to have you in the North York Harvest family!
YOU make it possible to provide food for your neighbours that would otherwise go hungry.
YOU come out to volunteer, donate funds, show support and be a part of our community.
Each month your generosity touches more than 15,000 people in Toronto. Thank you!
Without YOU we wouldn’t have been able to help your neighbours access food this year.
This year we shared with you stories from many people. People who were directly impacted because of you. And those stories are just the tip of the iceberg!
From Jenna, who started grade four this year and loves science and gym class. And her mom Trish, who had her hours cut at work. Trish wasn’t sure how to pay the bills. YOU ensured that Jenna didn’t go to school hungry!
Your support helped Katherine, a dietician at a prenatal drop in program. With your help, she was able to teach women about healthy eating on a budget. YOU ensured that they would be able to feed themselves while they were pregnant and continue to provide nutritious meals as their children grow.
More than 800 York University students use the campus food bank every week. YOU made sure that they were able to access the food they needed to help them concentrate on their studies instead of hunger.
Marlene, a volunteer at a local food bank was able to give her neighbours more than just food when they came in hungry. She was able to connect them with free services throughout the city to help them with parenting classes, recreational activities, resume building and more.
Over 300 Syrians fleeing war and violence came to the Oriole Food Space after arriving in Canada. There they have found more than food for their families, but the opportunity for a new life, work, friends and a chance. A chance they wouldn’t have gotten without your support.
And Jennifer who is only 17 years old. She found herself pregnant and homeless…instead of her original plan to go off to college and start her career. YOU made sure she was able to feed herself and her son during these tough times.
These are only some of the people that you helped this year alone! There are thousands more people that you directly impact through your generosity and support!
Thank you for all you do – it makes a world of difference – to us and the neighbours that you may never know.
Who’s donating to the food bank? You and wonderful people in your community are working together to make a difference in the lives of people that are hungry!
Want to join in and make a donation to support people that are hungry? Click here!
This has been one incredible year. We want to celebrate YOU and all you do for people in your community with the release of our 2015/2016 Stakeholder Impact Review. Because of your support, thousands of people are able to experience the #joyoffood! In fact, almost 5 MILLION meals have been served and it wouldn’t have happened without you by our side.
Want to know more about the food that goes in and out of the food bank in your community? Look no further!
