I wasn’t always a member of your community. My family came here over 20 years ago for a fresh start and I was met with open arms by wonderful families that I now consider to be my family.
As new arrivals to Canada, we didn’t have the means to celebrate a Thanksgiving meal – but we were invited to share the holiday with a wonderful family that had us over to their home. And that really meant a lot.
They told us that the true meaning of the holiday is being grateful sharing what we have – they even told us more about our new country and the incredible fresh start and adventure we are about to enjoy. Thanks to their hospitality – I also had my first taste of pumpkin pie and it remains one of my favourite desserts up until this day!
These days I volunteer at a local community center that supports newcomers just like I once was.People can go there for food, ESL classes, cooking lessons and job placement support. I get to witness firsthand how generosity from people just like you go a long way to helping people build a new life here in Canada.
When I think about that special gift we received on our first Thanksgiving – this time of year really gets me in the mood to help people that are struggling to get back onto their feet. People right in our community.
This year I will be working with my community center, their staff, volunteers and even families who we’ve helped in the past and are now coming back to pay it forward, to ensure families who are struggling in the neighbourhood have a hot and festive meal on Thanksgiving and have enough food at home all month long.
And I want to invite you to join me and do the same.
Let’s Leave Hunger Behind and make this a Thanksgiving to remember. So that 20 years from now, when new families share their stories, they, like I do, will remember with joyfulness, their first fall in Canada.
We can’t do it without you though!
Join us for the 2016 Fall Food Drive to make this Thanksgiving and the rest of the fall a special time everyone can be grateful for!
There are many ways you can join me and the thousands of amazing people in our community working to make a difference!
Donate – For every $1 you donate, you provide 3 meals to a person that is hungry!
Volunteer – There are many great opportunities with the Fall Food Drive – join the NYH truck drivers to pick up and deliver food or come out to one of the many great events planned to raise food for our neighbours!
Run a Food & Funds Drive – This is a fun way to work together as a team with friends, family, classmates, coworkers and anyone else that would like to make a difference!
Join the Public Sort –Sort food at the NYH warehouse on October 9 for a great way to spend Thanksgiving weekend with your family while ensuring food is sorted and ready to be delivered to families in need!
Get Social! – Use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media to spread the news about the food drive with these great shareables!
During this season of Thanksgiving, join me in showing our neighbours that we care about them.
What is it that makes you realize fall is finally here?
Is it the coolness in the air? The leaves changing colours? Everything is now pumpkin spice flavoured?
For me and my daughters, Emma & Sophia, fall kicks off each year by participating in the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon.This year will be our 8th year participating in the marathon and our 4th year on Team North York Harvest. The route is great and the scenery around the city is absolutely gorgeous.
It’s a real Toronto community event complete with bands, entertainment, cheerleaders and people in costumes. We’ve been known to have a carrot joining our team for many years now! It’s great for first time marathoners but also the advanced athlete who wants to qualify for the upcoming Boston Marathon.Anyone that enters gets a t-shirt and a great finisher’s medal that comes with complete bragging rights.
The first year I entered, I tried running with my daughter Sophia on my back. She was only two at the time and let’s just say my run time wasn’t going to get me on the Olympic team. But that doesn’t matter. The important part is getting together with my family and fellow community members to reach a common goal.
And that goal is all about providing healthy meals for our neighbours that are hungry.Each year Team North York Harvest raises money so that families will be able to access the food they need. Since the team has been active, over $200,000 has been raised.
That’s 600,000 meals for children, parents and grandparents living right here in Toronto!
Even my girls have taken the initiative to raise money for the cause with their friends at school. This year they plan to raise enough funds for 300 meals. It really warms my heart to see how caring and thoughtful my children have grown to be. And a lot of that attitude came from taking part in the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon.
Canada is such an amazing country, there is so much freedom and liberties we have that many countries don’t. This is why I always find it shocking when I see the statistics of people that go hungry in our country.
In fact, on September 16 Hon Laura Albanese, MPP joined us at North York Harvest Food Bank to help us sort food during the First Annual Great MPP Food Sort!
Did you know?
Each day children in our communities may go without a meal. Poverty can lead to poor nutrition and that can affect a child’s grades and quality of life in the long run.
Every province and city in the country is affected by hunger.
Comments Off on 2015/2016 Stakeholder Impact Review
The Joy of Food
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.
This year because of you amazing things happened! You made a huge impact in the lives of people in your community that didn’t have enough food to eat! Your donations, food drives, volunteering and support provided an incredible amount of food to people in Toronto! Thank you!
Some kids love it. Some kids hate it. But it is on the way! The kids are about to go back to school for another year of learning, friendship and fun.
Personally, I loved back to school as a kid. Every year at the end of summer, I got to go to the mall with my mom to buy new clothes and supplies. We’d usually make a day of it and grab some pizza for lunch.
I met Jenna earlier this summer. She told me how she’s really excited to start grade four. Her favourite classes are science and gym class. “I can’t wait to see my friends again and tell them about all the things I did this summer!”
Her mother Trish, on the other hand, is not as excited. Her hours have been cut at work again and she is having trouble paying for Jenna’s school supplies. “Rent is so expensive – I really can’t afford to pay for extra things Jenna needs.”
Trish isn’t the only one feeling the pinch in September. Many clients that come into the food bank struggle with daily expenses. And food is often the most flexible thing in the budget. Unhealthy food tends to be a lot cheaper than fresh foods so those items tend to make it into children’s lunches.
“I always felt terrible when I couldn’t put fresh fruit or vegetables in her lunches – but those things cost so much lately.”
I’ve seen it myself when buying my groceries. Fresh produce prices have been skyrocketing; sometimes it is just easier to get the cheaper items while sacrificing nutrition.
Even though Jenna is still young, she can still tell when there isn’t enough food for a healthy lunch. “Once in a while I get two oranges in my lunch. Those are my favourite! Last year I didn’t get oranges much. Sometimes I didn’t get much to eat at all.”
This year Trish turned to the food bank, “I am always so grateful after going to the food bank. I come home with healthy items for Jenna and myself. Things like bread, cheese and meat so I can make her sandwiches for lunch. And there are even eggs so she can have scrambled eggs in the morning – though I prefer mine sunny side up.”
I’m relieved know that families in Toronto have access to these food banks. No child should go to school hungry.
Luckily, your support of North York Harvest helps us ensure that Trish can fill Jenna’s lunch bag with healthy foods each day. She can also send Jenna off to school having had a healthy breakfast so she can concentrate on her studies.
With your support, we serve over 15,000 people that are hungry each month! As you can imagine, it takes A LOT of food to be able to provide meals for our neighbours in need.
Through generous donations of individual and corporate donors, we receive 100,000’s of pounds of food. But all of this food isn’t ready to go out to the food banks – it must be sorted for quality first.
I caught up with Kadian Clarke, a staff member at North York Harvest – she works with groups of volunteers to sort through thousands of pounds of food. Since January, she’s trained and sorted with over 1,000 people including employee groups, schools, sports teams as well as families.
“My favourite part of the job is teaching people about the foods in the food bank as well as building awareness of hunger in our city.”
It turns out in order to sort all of this food; there are many rules. The reason for this is so we can provide the best possible food to people in your community. That means we can’t accept damaged, unlabeled, expired or half-eaten foods (yes, all of these items come into the warehouse on a regular basis and must be sorted before they reach the food bank).
“There are 23 categories of food that go out to agencies.” Kadian tells me as she sets up the sort room for her next group. These categories include baby food, rice, nutritional supplements, snacks and proteins – others in higher demand than others. “The important part of sorting them into these categories is that we can better serve the clients with food they need. This way agencies don’t get a box of random items ranging from tuna to pudding cups when what they really needed was canned beans.”
We are extremely thankful for all of the donations that we receive, but some of them can be completely strange. I asked some of the staff what items they’ve seen through the years that made them raise an eyebrow.
We definitely see the wacky and the weird in our bins on a regular basis for example:
Graham crackers from a company that went out of business years ago
Vegetable soup that expired in 1995
Lawn fertilizer
Firewood
Caviar that was 10 years past the best before date
Rotting eggs
Cut off shorts
Expired military rations
Hazmat suits
Thankfully, most donations received are exactly what our clients are looking for in a food hamper: items like canned fish, canned tomatoes, beans, rice and baby food. It’s important that we take the time to sort and categorize these items. Unfortunately sorting through unwanted items is a lot of extra work. And it takes valuable time and money to dispose of anything that is damaged or expired.
Volunteers come in to sort with their coworkers or friends and end the session knowing more about hunger in the city and why their help is so essential. The thing that Kadian sees volunteers take away from the food sorting experience is a sense of accomplishment within the community. “After each sort session, we share how many pounds of food were sorted and how many families they are helping. This way the volunteers get to see their hard work pay off first hand. The groups feel great about being able to make a difference.” And make a difference they do.
Her mother Trish, on the other hand, is not as excited. Her hours have been cut at work again and she is having trouble paying for Jenna’s school supplies. 
