Every groundhog day, Canada patiently waits to see what Wiarton Willie has to say about how much longer we have to wait out the winter.
Well… as of February 2, the little critter said we had six more weeks to go and if you’re like me, you can’t wait! It’s almost time to break out the spring jackets and put away the toques and mittens for another year! It’s time to walk around in the sunshine surrounded by trees and flowers blossoming and the smell of fresh cut grass.
Another thing to be excited about is the annual Spring Food Drive! It kicks off on February 24 and will propel us into the spring season!
You make this important event possible each year! With the food and funds raised during this drive, your neighbours will have enough food to help them get by through off peak times such as the summer. When kids are on summer vacation, they lack access to the breakfast and lunch programs run by their schools. But with your help, they will have enough food to give them the energy needed to be healthy and active kids all summer long!
Don’t let your neighbours in need go hungry! Help us raise $100,000 & 100,000 lbs. of food this spring and make sure no one in our community goes without food!
Not sure what food to donate? No problem! We have a handy list of all of the top needed items at the food bank! If you’re looking through your pantry for items to donate, be sure not to donate anything expired – please check out this blog post on best before dates for more info.
Because of your generosity, we are able to provide food for over 13,000 parents, children and grandparents every month!
Thank you for making a difference today and every day!
Isn’t it wonderful when you see people working together and committing to a cause with great passion? I’m lucky because I get to see that kind of enthusiasm each day at North York Harvest. One of the companies that we have been grateful to work with is BrandActive.
BrandActive has been a very important partner with North York Harvest for years. They have quite a suiting name as well because they are very active in helping others and making a big impact. We are constantly amazed by the commitment and passion shown by this group of wonderful people.
I recently had the chance to sit down and talk with Robynne Budish, who is a cofounder of BrandActive. As a long-time supporter of her community, Robynne always knew that channeling her values through her business was important. I loved hearing her energy and passion as she shared how her company is involved in making a difference.
For the past two years, BrandActive has collaborated with NYH to hold a Back to School event for the community.“I know I could write a cheque or come in to sort food once in a while. But because of the resources I have through BrandActive, I am able to make a bigger impact,” says Robynne. As an outreach activity, her team purchased school supplies and packed them in backpacks for over 500 kids in the community. “I loved overhearing how excited people were to see what was in those backpacks.” Most families have to stretch their limited budget when their kids go back to school. Often it means less food for mom and dad. “It might only be a backpack but that’s $60 they can save and spend on food.”
BrandActive is also one of the top food sorters in the warehouse! When they come in you can just feel the positive vibes that these employees have. They were most recently in to sort food in the warehouse in December and they sorted an amazing 10,068 lbs. of food! To put that into perspective – that food will make up hampers of food for close to 1,000 people.
The outreach activities with BrandActive also resonate with the employees at the organization. “A lot of people don’t realize how large the issue of food security and hunger is in our own backyard,” Robynne says of engaging her employees in community giving. “I am happy I can raise that awareness. Some of my employees have also told me that they plan on coming back on their own time with their family.”
But it wasn’t just motivating her employees that drew Robynne to the food bank. “NYH does more than just provide food. It’s trying to meet a deeper need for food security. They are trying to have a greater impact. That resonates with our company.”
“You realize that whatever you have in life is determined by what opportunities you are given,” Robynne told me. “But I believe that everybody deserves respect no matter what walk of life you come from, no matter what opportunities came your way. One of the first things I heard when I was here was about the dignity and respect that choice model food banks provide.”
“If everybody had dignity and respect for each other, imagine how much better of place the world would be?”
Because of entrepreneurs like Robynne and companies like BrandActive, more and more people in the community are being engaged and becoming aware of the growing issue of food insecurity. We are thankful for all of their hard work making a difference in their community.
I remember college fondly. Leaving home, living in a new place, and fun with friends. I think I even remember some learning and planning for the future somewhere in there. What most of us don’t think of when we think of university or college is not having enough food to eat. I mean I didn’t exactly eat the best food. There was a lot of mac and cheese, microwave dinners and some other weird combinations of food I cringe to think of now. But never was there not enough. I never had to stress about where my next meal would come from.
Unfortunately today, more and more students across our country are finding themselves in university thinking more about how they will afford to eat than about their studies. Right here in our city all our universities have had to open food banks right on campus. More than 800 York University students need to access the Food 4 Thought campus food bank weekly in order to feed themselves.
I had the chance to talk with Niraj Maharaj, Student Rights and Support Services Coordinator for the
York Federation of Students about this the other day. You see back in 2010, Niraj and his friend Kemba, working at York, realized many of the students they were working with were also food insecure and they knew they had to do something about it.
Growing up, Niraj shared with me that he felt he was lucky. Even though he came from a single parent household, they always had enough food on the table and did not go hungry. His mother felt it was very important that he and his siblings were grateful for everything they had. Many weekends and holidays were devoted to volunteering in the local soup kitchens and participating in food drives. This is a lesson that Niraj has taken with him throughout his life.
Niraj’s job in Advocacy Services was to advocate for students who facing disciplinary action for misconduct, connect students with tutoring when they were struggling in classes or support them for other issues that would arise at school. Niraj was there to lend a helping hand. He eventually began to notice a trend among the students that he was working with. Many of confided that even with OSAP, scholarships and jobs, they were not able to afford enough food to get by. The combination of hunger and their incredibly busy schedules was leading many students to make poor academic choices.
Niraj and Kemba began running food drives to support their fellow students. Their efforts quickly snowballed. They were surprised to see how many people at York rallied together to ensure their fellow classmates could get access to enough food. The Food 4 Thought York University Food Bank was born.
Today the program sees 40-50 students in need of food every day.
When the food bank was just beginning, Niraj told me that many students were embarrassed to use the program. “They were worried that their peers or teachers would find out. But as the years have gone by the students at York University have been having open discussions regarding food insecurity. This has helped with the stigmatization many people feel about using a food bank. Students are realizing that they are not alone when it comes to hunger. If someone is still uncomfortable, I will refer him or her to a food bank that is off campus.”
Niraj told me that the best part of the job is seeing how grateful people are for the help they have received. “Many students stop by in their cap and gown after graduation, some with their families, to express thanks for the service. I’ve been told by many people that they wouldn’t be able to graduate if it weren’t for the food bank”.
However, graduation does not necessarily mean an end to food bank use. Unfortunately, many students will need to continue using food banks for years to come. “It used to be that once you had an education you could go out and get a job and support yourself and your family. But these days an education doesn’t guarantee you a job anymore,” says Niraj.
As students are graduating, they find it difficult to secure well-paying jobs to cover rent, other expenses and the new debt incurred from attending university. Continuing to use a food bank until one can hopefully find a job that pays enough is not uncommon for many students, especially those without strong family support. Even those with families in the city, often come from homes where parents are just making ends meet.
“The issues around food security, income, and tuition are vast and not going away any time soon but in the mean time we will be here to support our student community so that people who need food can access it.”
Without your help, community food banks just like Food 4 Thought would have to close their doors. Hundreds of students would go hungry and be forced to drop out of school.
Niraj saw the need to help others in his community and you can too. Not all of us can start a food bank, but there are many ways to contribute to make an impact.
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…
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!
I had the chance to talk with Niraj Maharaj, Student Rights and Support Services Coordinator for the
