Tag Archive: food banks canada

  1. World Food Day

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    Today is World Food Day and we want to know what it means to you?

    Does it make you think about all of your favourite foods?

    How they taste or smell?

    How they are made?

    Where they come from?

    Or does it make you think about people who may not have enough food to eat?

    World Food Day was created to be a day of action against hunger across the world.  October 16th was declared World Food Day in 1945 by the United Nations in an effort to end hunger.

    Many people don’t think of their community when they think of hunger in the world.  It seems to be something that you only really see on television or in the news.  But the reality is that almost 1 million Canadians use a food bank every month.  13,000 of them happen to be your own neighbours.

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    Hunger and the need for help can happen to anyone.  Low wages, loss of a job, family tragedy, health issues, and many more reasons contribute to poverty in Toronto.  54% of the people that use our services have skipped meals in order to pay for other things such as utilities, rent, transportation or even so their own children can have a meal.  A parent never wants to make the choice between feeding their children and paying the rent.

    What can you do to help?

    There are many ways that you can get involved in your community and help put an end to hunger in your own backyard.

    Together we can make a real impact and help parents, grandparents and children overcome the struggle of not having anything to eat.

    Today is World Food Day, but let’s make every day the day that we lend a hand to those in need.

    “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”
    – Dr. Seuss

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  2. Join the Fall Food Drive!

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    It’s Thanksgiving weekend!  I hope you are all looking forward to enjoying time and a nice meal with all of your families.

    As I think about the abundance of delicious food that will be set at my table, I also am confronted with a troubling thought.  Many families in our very own community will not have the luxury to sit down to a large dinner with their loved ones.  Many won’t even have enough food to fill their bellies.

    It’s a tough thing to think about.  Thanksgiving is the time of year when we celebrate and are thankful for what we have and the food at our table. But it’s hard for someone to be thankful when they don’t have enough food to eat.

    That is where YOU come in!  Because of the incredible support from caring people like you, many of our neighbours are able to access nutritious food to feed their families.

    As the weather gets colder and we get ready for Thanksgiving, the NYH Annual Fall Food Drive to raise $100,000 and 100,000 pounds of food to provide 300,000 meals for our neighbours in need is in full swing.  Your support will make an amazing difference in the lives of so many families in Toronto.  Just $1 can provide 3 meals. Your small act of kindness today will make a lot of parents and children nourished and happy.  Will you consider helping us reach this goal?

    What can you do?

    Get involved and run a Food & Fund Drive!  It’s so easy to sign up and put together a food drive with your family, coworkers, school, clubs or friends!  Check out this really fun list of ideas to get started.

    If you don’t have time to set up a food & fund drive yourself, donate online or make a food donation at local grocery stores and fire halls.  For a list of where you can donate groceries, please click here.

    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.

    The top 5 needed items are:

    • Baby Food
    • Canned fish
    • Canned chickpeas and other beans
    • Cooking oil (personal sized bottles)
    • Soup

    Click here to see what other items are needed most.

    If you are digging through your pantry to find items to donate, be sure that they are not expired.  Items that are past the best before date are accepted.  For more information on expiry and best before dates, check out our blog post.

    You can make a difference in the lives of 13,000 parents, children and grandparents that rely on food banks every month.  It is because of generous people like you that we can make hunger in Canada a thing of the past.

    Let’s make this Thanksgiving a holiday that everyone can be thankful for.

  3. Thank You For Supporting Our Spring Food Drives

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    If you follow North York Harvest’s website or social media accounts, you’ve probably noticed that, over the last few months, we’ve been engaging our community to raise food and fund donations for three major campaigns.

    The North York Harvest Spring Food Drive, Every Plate Full Food Drive, and the Greater Toronto Apartment Association Spring Hope Food Drive, are all designed to keep our shelves stocked throughout the summer. Its a time when your neighbours need extra support as our food supply usually gets critically low.

    Today we’re happy to announce that thanks to your donations and volunteer hours, we were able to raise an amazing $95,000 and 144,235 pounds of food across the three food drives! Your contributions will go a long way towards supporting your neighbours in need, and making sure that none of our clients go without this summer.

    We’d like to send a special thank you to our Spring Drive supporting sponsor Hain Celestial for making the campaign possible. We’re very lucky to partner with such an amazing organization.

    Thank you for your generosity and hard work. To continue to support your neighbours in need this summer, please donate today.

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  4. Every Plate Full Food Drive

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    From May 2nd – 8th, North York Harvest Food Bank will be joining food banks across Canada for the Every Plate Full Food Drive.

    This Summer 918,724 Canadians will access food banks. It’s a staggering number, and unfortunately, due to lower donations throughout the summer months, many food banks will struggle to keep up with the demand.  This problem has sparked the Every Plate Full Food Drive, a campaign organized by Food Banks Canada, bringing food banks across the country together with the goal to fill the plates of every hungry Canadian this summer.

    We at the North York Harvest Food Bank are thrilled to be a part of this initiative, and we need your donations to help make this drive a success. Every $1 you donate to NYHFB’s Every Plate Full Drive will provide 3 meals for someone in need.

    This year we’ve set a big goal of 30,000 meals raised and we can’t get there without your help. Visit our Every Plate Full Drive page today to start a team, make a donation, or learn more about the campaign.

  5. What does the Federal Budget mean for donors in Canada?

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    If you’ve ever made a donation to a charity in Canada, you know that your gift is usually eligible to receive a tax receipt. This probably wasn’t your biggest motivator for giving, but it helps. This week you might have read about the new Federal Budget, and like us, you might be curious about what some of these changes will mean for donors and charities in Canada.  The good news is a series of new tax rules will make it easier than ever for you to support your favourite charities in the future.

    The biggest change? As of 2017, you will be able to donate proceeds from the sale of your private company or real estate without having to pay capital gains tax. What does this mean? Well, let’s say you sold some property and were looking to donate a part of the proceeds to charity. Under the old laws you would first have had to pay a tax on the profit of the sale, and could then donate a portion of the remaining amount. With the new rules you could donate first and only pay tax on the remaining amount.  In short – more money to the charity and less money to the government (it’s estimated that the rule will cost the government about $265 million over the next four years).

    This change reminds me of the 2006 budget; when the federal government allowed us to donate shares in publicly traded companies, tax free. These changes boosted charitable giving in Canada by an estimated 1 billion dollars a year. It’s a staggering statistic, and now with even more ways to donate, charities are hoping that these numbers will continue to go up.

    Jacline Nyman, CEO of United Way Centraide Canada, seemed very optimistic about the results when quoted in Wednesday’s Globe and Mail.

    “If people can look at transferring major assets like real estate or private securities, this is a really exciting moment in time. In my experience, donors do look at their out-of-pocket expense post-tax, so it does really encourage a greater amount of philanthropy.”

    Not everyone is so optimistic. Michael McKnight, president and CEO of United Way of the Lower Mainland in British Columbia told Business Vancouver  he thinks “this will affect only a small number of larger donors and a few select charities.” Maybe he’s right.  What does seem likely is that these exemptions will be much more attractive to wealthier donors that typically give larger amounts to larger charities.

    One key charitable tax change not included in the budget was the proposed “Stretch Tax Credit for Charitable Giving”. The tax would reward donors with a more generous tax credit rate of 39%, if they increased their donations over and above what they had given on average in the last five years. The tax credit would also attract first time donors who would have receive a higher tax break for their donation.

    “At a time when giving has been stagnant or even declining, the Stretch would have made it easier for all Canadians to give more to their favourite causes,” said Bruce MacDonald, President and CEO of Imagine Canada. The advocacy group lobbied strongly in favour of the stretch tax and maintain that it should be a top priority for future budgets.

    At the end of the day the budget sends a clear message. The government believe in the power of your charitable donations and want to invest in Canadian philanthropy. Incentivizing your donations, and giving you more flexibility, should financially benefit the charitable sector, and aid our effort to help build strong communities. There is still work to be done, but this is a step in the right direction that should show positive impacts in the near future.