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.
New Year’s resolutions are very common to make at this time of year. I have definitely thought of a couple for myself, and it has probably crossed your mind as well. Most of the popular resolutions are to get out of debt, volunteer more, get fit, quit smoking or save money.
As a new member of the North York Harvest family, I was curious about our New Year’s Resolutions for a city where no one goes hungry. I sat down with our Executive Director, Ryan Noble, to chat about what is in store for North York Harvest Food Bank in 2016. These are some of the main things we will be partnering with our donors, community and agencies in 2016
Our Lawrence Heights Community Food Bank, used to be at our old location in Lawrence Heights. We were unable to have the food bank come with us to 116 Industry Street. It needed to stay in that area to provide service to the many clients who relied on it for food support. With space in our old neighborhood difficult to find, we were able to find a home nearby that promised to be a good solution. Yet two major issues that our food bank clients face is the cost of transportation and disability. The majority of the 2,000 clients who access this food bank living in Lawrence Heights found it difficult to get there. We quickly recognized that to ensure clients would be able to access the food bank it would need to move back to the Lawrence Heights community. With the support of our staff, volunteer leaders and the Lawrence Heights community, we have been working on a solution that would provide us with an accessible space right back in the community. With the continued support of donors like you and our dedicated community, our goal is to move back within the next 6 months without interrupting service. We want to ensure that in the cold winter months ahead, everyone will be able to access the food they need.
Recently the Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) was passed during a Toronto city council meeting. The PRS aims to eliminate poverty in Toronto by 2035 with implementations starting in 2016. The goal is to address immediate needs such as housing, transportation and food insecurity. NYH has been a big supporter of this strategy since day one and we would like to see it take shape. The only issue now is what funding will be available for this plan.
What does North York Harvest want to see addressed as soon as possible? Public space for food programming. Many people living in poverty do not have access to healthy food because of where they live. We want to be able to provide our programs in more communities, but there is a lack of public space for us to run our programs (like our issue with Lawrence Heights).
The PRS recommends increasing the number of emergency food programs such as food banks in neighbourhoods that have food insecurity and poor food access.
This would significantly help us serve over 13,000 people each month and would increase access to these programs for our clients. Click here to find out more about the Poverty Reduction Strategy.
When we moved into our new home at 116 Industry St, one of the things we were most excited about was the potential for partnerships with many of the great organizations also located here. One collaboration that we were able to implement right away was allowing students working on their forklift-driving license to use our forklifts and warehouse. This has helped them complete their training in a live warehouse thus building real work experience. As we enter 2016, we have some plans to see that partnership expand. We’re hoping to create an apprentice program for on the job training while supporting our warehouse distribution. This will ensure we can move more food through our warehouse to the clients who need it.
In an effort to make sure that our community has enough healthy food to eat, we have further developed our food purchasing program into the Build a Hamper Program. The goal of this program is to take our food hampers to the next level by adding more fresh and healthy food. Many of our food items come through donations from food drives or corporate donations and consist of non-perishable foods. We would like to increase our food purchasing budget so we can provide more items such as fresh vegetables, dairy, eggs, meat and milk to ensure a more balanced meal for those that access our food banks. If you would like to learn more about our Build A Hamper program, click here.
We are definitely looking forward to achieving these goals in 2016! What are your New Year’s Resolutions?
Keep in Touch this Year!!
2015 was a great year at North York Harvest Food Bank and it couldn’t have been done without you!
Enjoy our 2015 year in review video!
We can’t wait to see what 2016 holds!
This past Sunday, for the 8th year in a row, we took part in the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon! It was cold. It was snowing. But all participants were still in great spirits!
Our goal was to raise $15,000 in order to provide 45,000 meals to our neighbours that are hungry.
WE’RE ALMOST THERE! We’ve already exceeded $12,000!
Even though the race is over, YOU can still be a part of the team!
DON’T DELAY – Donations can only be made until the end of October so please DONATE NOW
Thank you to all our participants for getting up to race with us at 8:00 in the morning on a chilly Sunday. Your dedication will to help feed people in your community. We’d also like to extend our gratitude to the donors and sponsors for your generosity!
We were excited to be joined by many of our veteran teammates in person and spirit. Including the Fun Runners team with Peter Zissis and Chris Hilborn, who have been running with NYH for 8 years! We also had some new faces, including Executive Director Ryan Noble and Board Member Tony Cancelliere.
Our incredible teams this year were:
And as always, our tradition at the race is the Treasurer of the Board (Kevin Munn) best represented our team by wearing a great costume!
What our team had to say:
“Taking part in the charity walk was a lot of fun and a great feeling – there was a great sense of community among the participants that represented all walks of life” – Tony Cancelliere
“I had my best time ever and also helped families.” – Accidental Roamers
“It was a lot of fun to walk with all my friends at the Scotiabank Marathon and see the thousands of other people. We also raised money for the food bank.” – AR
“My kids and I were super excited for the event. It was the best 5KM yet Thank you to family and friends for supporting the North York Harvest Food Bank!” – Leslie Venturino
On behalf of all of us at North York Harvest Food Bank, we are so excited to introduce you to our new Executive Director, Ryan Noble. Ryan comes to us with a passion for informative food systems and a rich history of experience in organizational growth and change management.
After completing his Bachelor in Commerce from Queens University, Ryan focused his career in the aerospace industry, working to develop new business, growing and transforming Bombardier, both locally and abroad. Ryan believes in strong partnerships and has a commitment to growth through continuous systems evaluation and development.
From his work to mobilize and empower families of cancer patients, to developing a co-op initiative to connect people in the city with local farmers, Ryan’s passion for social change is evident in both his professional and personal life. While completing his Masters of Education at the University of Toronto, Ryan was able to able to combine his business expertise and his passion for food security into the research and application of community-supported agriculture and alternative food systems. Ryan is dedicated to working collaboratively to transform and strengthen communities.
Prior to accepting the Executive Director role, Ryan served as a member of the NYH strategic planning committee before joining the board. On the board he served as the vice chair, a member of the finance committee and chair of the relocation committee. Outside of work, Ryan enjoys cooking, travelling and spending time with his long-time partner Jessica.
Ryan can be reached at ryan@northyorkharvest.com or 416-635-7771 ex24