Tag Archive: north york

  1. A fresh food summer round-up!

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    Summer is one of the hardest seasons for food banks. Non-perishable donations drop sharply, and shelves become bare just as families face rising food costs. But at North York Harvest, summer is also a season of creativity — a time when partnerships, community events, and innovative programs connect families with the fresh, healthy food they need.

    Here’s some of what you helped to make possible this summer: 

    Fresh Food at Foodie Fest

    At the annual Foodie Festival hosted by Rexdale Community Health Centre and Albion Public Library, North York Harvest distributed produce directly to the community through our Albion Library Community Food Space. This space became a hub of activity as families gathered for a day of culture, food, and connection.

    Rexdale CHC purchased $6,000 of fresh produce through our social enterprise FoodReach, which uses the collective buying power of schools, libraries, shelters, drop-ins, and food banks to lower food costs for all. Together, we distributed 2,945 lbs. of corn, apples, oranges, kale, plantain, and sweet potatoes to our community!

    A person in a red North York Harvest Food Bank hat and shirt hands a bag of fresh vegetables to a community member at an outdoor produce market.

    Summer Green Market

    Fresh food that’s about 60% cheaper than the grocery store?A chalkboard that reads Albion Green Market with a product list of vegetables and fruits and their prices.

    That’s what happens when social enterprise and community partners join forces.

    From July 8-August 26 North York Harvest Food Bank‘s Summer Green Markets returned to make fruits and veggies more accessible at our Albion Library Community Food Space.

    By purchasing fresh food through FoodReach, and thanks to a grant from Toronto Public Library, we were able to slash food prices for our community.

    Revenue from the market is then reinvested into North York Harvest’s programs that power workforce development, sustainable livelihoods, and food access. 

    Serving More Fresh Food Options

    Community partnerships with local producers went into action to fill the summer gap. This season, North York Harvest distributed fresh food to families across northern Toronto — produce that would have otherwise been out of reach for many.

    For example, we partnered with an Ontario farm who grew melons, callaloo, and zucchinis for our community, because everyone deserves access to fresh, healthy food.

    Thanks to partnerships like these, 27% of the food we now distribute is fresh food versus non-perishable items, up from 20% just a year ago. And in August, an astonishing 37% of food was fresh!

    But space limitations in our current warehouse mean we still have to turn away thousands of pounds of fresh food every year. Our community needs this support, and we’re determined to expand our capacity. Our new Community Food Hub will include nearly 5,000 sq. ft. of refrigerated space, dramatically increasing our ability to store and distribute fresh produce, dairy, and culturally relevant foods year-round.

  2. Sonya’s Story: Starting over with community support

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    A woman in a red North York Harvest Food Bank apron serves food to a client.

    When Sonya* arrived in Canada in 2015 with her 11-year-old son Eric*, she was starting over completely.

    She was a single mother in a new country, navigating an unfamiliar language, searching for housing, and trying to figure out how to access basic supports — all while making sure her son had enough to eat.

    In August 2015 Sonya was connected with our Bathurst-Finch Community Food Space, where right away she felt at home.

    “Coming to Bathurst-Finch with a large population of Russian speakers, It was very comforting that someone could communicate with us without a language barrier issue,” Sonya says.

    There, she found food and clothing support, support with immigration papers and documentation, and staff helped Sonya figure out how to apply for ODSP.

    Eventually they met Elis, our Community Services Manager, who has been a steady support as Sonya and Eric have built their lives here in Canada.

    A woman sits at an information booth for North York Harvest Food Bank.

    “We have known Elis for 11 years. She has helped us get on a waitlist for subsidized housing, receive lower-income TTC Presto cards, access medical care before we became permanent residents, and during summer heat waves, Elis connected us with a program to receive a free A/C for our home,” Sonya says.

    For Sonya and Eric, this support made all the difference.

    “We don’t know what we would have done without North York Harvest,” Eric says. “It’s the kind of support that changed our lives here.”

    Today, Eric is studying business marketing, a future that once felt out of reach.

    But like many families across Toronto, Sonya and Eric are still navigating rising living costs. With rent and food prices continuing to climb, North York Harvest Food Bank remains an essential support.

    “If we didn’t have access to these services, we would be in a very different situation right now,” Eric adds. Because I’m a student and my mom’s on ODSP… There’s not much left over after rent and food expenses. Everything that the food bank provides helps us a lot.”

    *Names have been changed to protect client identity.

  3. New truck empowers North York Harvest Food Bank to deliver more fresh food

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    OTF Truck

    On Friday, September 25 we unveiled our brand new truck, which will help us distribute 1 million more lbs. of food per year!

    Thanks to a $200,000 capital grant from Ontario Trillium Foundation, North York Harvest Food Bank purchased a vehicle with a 24-ft. refrigerated body to accept and distribute more food to thousands of our neighbours facing food insecurity.

    An important part of dignified food assistance is choice. Now, we’ll be able to offer more fruits, vegetables, eggs, and dairy to expand food options even further to suit the cultural and dietary needs of our clients — while supporting health, dignity, and choice.

    Thank you to York South-Weston MPP Mohamed Firin for joining us to recognize the impact of this grant in helping North York Harvest address the food insecurity crisis. 

    MPP Firin

    “North York Harvest Food Bank does incredible work supporting individuals and families across northern Toronto, and I’m proud that our government, through the Ontario Trillium Foundation, is investing $200,000 to help strengthen that work. This new refrigerated truck will allow North York Harvest to safely transport more food, reduce food waste, and reach more people in our communities. Congratulations to North York Harvest on this significant milestone,” MPP Firin says.

    With food insecurity continuing to affect thousands of people in Toronto including families, newcomers, and seniors, the new truck highlights a critical part of the response: the infrastructure needed to move nutritious food where it’s needed most.

    We’re grateful to the Ontario Trillium Foundation for empowering North York Harvest Food Bank to better meet the needs of our community.

    Name Our New Truck

    Our community helped us name our previous truck, Haulie, and we’ll be looking for your help again. Watch our socials to see the launch of a public truck-naming contest for the newest member of the North York Harvest Food Bank fleet!

    A person wearing red North York Harvest Food Bank attire stands next to a branded delivery truck.

  4. September Community Food Hub Update

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    We’re pleased to share another update from our Community Food Hub, and as you will see, much less imagination is needed to see the refrigerated space, offices, washrooms, and more!

    (To see how far we’ve come in just two months, read the first update here)

    A cool development

    Construction workers are seen in a large industrial space, a hole in the floor is where a 5,000 sq. ft. refrigerated space will go. A large refrigerated space is under construction.

    In July, there was an open hole in the floor where a 5,000 sq. ft. refrigerated space would go.

    …To put that into perspective, our entire current warehouse is about 5,000 sq. ft!

    Now, the insulated walls are in and we are one step closer to vastly increasing the amount of fresh food North York Harvest Food Bank can accept and distribute across our community.

    But it goes further. The increased refrigerated space will also allow us to scale up our social enterprise FoodReach to deliver affordable food to more schools, libraries, drop-in shelters, food banks, and more. 

    Let there be light!

    A person in a red North York Harvest Food Bank branded hardhat points above in a warehouse, where skylights are visible.

    Skylights have been installed throughout the Hub to provide a much-needed touch of warmth in the warehouse for our staff and volunteers.

    It may seem like a small detail, but according to industry experts, exposure to daylight improves cognitive performance, reduces eye strain, and enhances productivity in workplaces and schools.

    A little bit of light can play a big role in creating a comfortable, welcoming environment for anyone who walks through our doors.

    Walls, walls everywhere

    Construction materials line freshly built walls in a warehouse

    What was recently one big empty room is being walled off to enclose the different spaces in our 30,000 sq. ft. Community Food Hub. Below, you can see the walls have been framed for our office spaces, storage rooms, and washrooms.

    Walls have been framed for offices inside of the North York Harvest Food Bank's Community Food Hub.

    Thanks for standing with us as we build a Community Food Hub that will reimagine what a food bank can be, and transform how we fight food insecurity.

    If you can’t wait to see the final project, watch a rendering walk-through of what our Hub will look like when we’re opened!

  5. How one young community leader spent her summer nourishing neighbours

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    A young person stands in front of a table with care packages and a sign that reads Kindness Kitchen.

    It started with a comment.

    Isabella heard from a neighbour that they weren’t really eating three meals a day anymore—just lunch. It was all they could afford.

    The more Isabella spoke with people in her North York community, the more she heard variations of the same story. For neighbours struggling with the rising cost of living, food is often one of the first things to be cut back.

    As a recent high school graduate, Isabella decided she wanted to spend her summer making a difference. She applied for a grant from Youth Fund Canada, which helps young people start a meaningful community initiative.

    Isabella was awarded $5,000 from the fund and reached out to North York Harvest Food Bank to partner. This support couldn’t have come at a better time. Summer at the food bank typically means emptier shelves. The support dries up, but the demand is just as strong.

    Isabella called her project Kindness Kitchen, an initiative to help make sure people in her community had access to nutritious food.

    We connected Isabella with our partner agency, Mount Zion Filipino Seventh-Day Adventist Church. Every month they serve over 300 community members, including many seniors and families.

    Stretching every dollar to reach more neighbours 

    Isabella used her grant to make biweekly food purchases from our social enterprise, FoodReach.

    By buying food for Mount Zion, Isabella is helping to fill a nutrition gap at a critical time. But her impact goes even further. By purchasing through FoodReach, she is able to take advantage of FoodReach’s bulk purchasing power, ensuring every dollar spent gets more food for the community at lower prices than a standard retailer. And surplus revenue from FoodReach sales are reinvested right back into North York Harvest Food Bank’s community programs. 

    “It feels nice to know that I’m making an impact because I wanted to relieve some of the burden on families, especially with food — it’s something everyone needs,” Isabella says.

    Every order Isabella makes includes a canned protein, 2-3 fruits, snacks, and other essentials. “The FoodReach team helps me to pick the right foods and tells me what’s on sale, I feel really supported by them and Mount Zion,” Isabella says.

    Care packages containing food and household items are arranged on a table with the words Kindness Kitchen & Mount Zion on it.

    “It’s wonderful, there are some staples that we aren’t always able to give, so sharing that with Isaballa, she’s able to purchase these essential items,” adds Mae, who runs the food space. “Oil is something clients ask for a lot, and it was a nice treat because their eyes would light up when they saw it.”

    Idea to impact

    Isabella came to North York Harvest Food Bank with an idea.

    We helped connect her with a community organization that knew its neighbours, a social enterprise that could make her dollars stretch further, and a network built to move food where it is needed most.

    Thanks to incredible neighbours like Isabella, when someone says, “I can only afford one meal a day,” our community has the capacity to respond.

    Thank you for helping us build a community where all members are able to meet their food needs.

  6. How Melvin came to volunteer, and left with a new career

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    A year ago, Melvin wasn’t sure what his future would look like.

    After the hours at his job were suddenly cut, the stability he had relied on disappeared. Despite having studied computer engineering, finding work in his field was proving difficult. With fewer hours and fewer opportunities, Melvin found himself spending more time at home, unsure of what would come next.

    Then, an unexpected opportunity opened a door.

    Melvin’s mother noticed that North York Harvest Food Bank was looking for volunteers at Albion Public Library. Melvin jumped at the chance to help his community —not knowing that volunteering would eventually help him build a new career.

    “I liked interacting with the community knowing you’re making a difference … I’m the kind of person who really likes to lend a helping hand when someone needs it, he says.

    While volunteering at our Albion Library Community Food Space, Melvin learned about Leadership in Logistics, our paid workforce training program that helps people develop the skills, certifications and experience they need to pursue careers in warehousing and logistics.

    He jumped at the opportunity.

    From volunteer to student

    Over four weeks, our paid training program creates hands-on learning and skills development opportunities right in our warehouse  — not instead of the vital food support we provide every day  — but integrated into it.

    Students gain the skills they’ll need to succeed while helping North York Harvest Food Bank support 30,000 clients facing food insecurity every month.

    During the program, Melvin learned alongside fellow students, gaining practical experience and industry certifications. Just as importantly, he gained a pathway forward.

    That pathway led to a full-time job with Canadian Tire Corporation.

    Four people hold graduation certificates, smiling in front of a North York Harvest Food Bank backdrop.

    Now, one year later, Melvin is celebrating his first anniversary with the company, and reflecting on just how much has changed.

    “The program impacted me very well. Since then I haven’t had to ask my family for money. It’s made me more independent,” Melvin says.

    “It made me very grateful to wake up and have a job considering how tough it is to get a job nowadays. I’m thankful for the opportunity North York Harvest Food Bank and Canadian Tire have given me.”

    After months of dedication, he has moved into new roles with additional responsibilities—a meaningful sign of how far he has come since the day he first walked into the Community Food Space as a volunteer.

    “In an overall sense, things have been great, much better in comparison to how I was doing well over a year ago. I am very thankful for everything that has come my way since I have been hired,” he says.

    For Melvin, it started with a volunteer opportunity at a local food bank. From there came training, new skills, and a first step into a new career.

    And sometimes, one opportunity can change everything.

  7. July Community Food Hub Update: Bringing Our Vision to Life

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    Last fall, North York Harvest Food Bank launched our Crisis to Catalyst campaign, an ambitious plan to build a new 30,000+ sq. ft. Community Food Hub designed to meet the food insecurity crisis head on, while building long-term solutions.

    Now, we’re proud to share that construction is officially underway at our future home on Chesswood Drive, and our excitement is building!

    A warehouse under construction with crew members visible off to the left. This will be the new site of North York Harvest Food Bank's Community Food Hub in Toronto.    A warehouse under construction. This will be the new site of North York Harvest Food Bank's Community Food Hub in Toronto.

    The markings on the concrete floor are beginning to define new spaces, while plumbing is being installed throughout the Hub. You can already picture the future

    Two women wearing red North York Harvest Food Bank-branded hard hats smile at a Community Food Hub in Toronto.washrooms, community kitchen, and handwashing stations that will support volunteers, staff, and community members.

    One of the most exciting sights is the enormous opening in the concrete floor. This is where our industrial-scale freezer is being built, insulated from the ground up to safely store hundreds of pallets of fresh, nutritious food. Just beside it, an equally impressive space is taking shape for our new refrigerator. 

    Altogether, this 5,000 sq. ft. refrigerated space will dramatically expand our ability to store and distribute fresh produce, dairy, and culturally relevant food across our food bank network. This will also scale up our social enterprise FoodReach, growing capacity to buy more locally grown food to distribute at affordable prices to schools, libraries, and drop-ins across Southern Ontario.

    Every pipe, every wall, and every layer of concrete brings us one step closer to opening a Community Food Hub that will transform how food is distributed across Toronto.

    Building skills and partnerships along the way

    We’re also thrilled to announce we have teamed up with our long-time partner Building Up to support construction of the Hub, while also supporting our community. Building Up is a non-profit social enterprise that helps people facing employment barriers find pathways to successful careers in the trades.

    Through this partnership, 35 trainees from Building Up will gain hands-on skills and work experience in the trades over 1,000 training hours.

    “The construction of the Hub is an example of our community wealth building approach in practice,” says Executive Director Ryan Noble, “and it demonstrates our commitment to supporting social enterprises and procurement practices that benefit our local community.”

    We’ll be back next month to share more updates from our future home. In the meantime, take a virtual tour of the Community Food Hub!

  8. A Message from Executive Director Ryan Noble: A new foundation for food security

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    Ryan Noble; Executive Director, North York Harvest Food Bank

    Last month, North York Harvest Food Bank reached a major milestone: breaking ground on the construction of our new Community Food Hub.

    By the end of the year, the Hub will become the home of our main offices and distribution centre. Three times larger than our current warehouse with a tenfold increase in cold storage capacity, this new facility is at the core of how we will address the rising demand for food assistance.

    Over 40 years of community care have brought us to this pivotal next chapter—made possible by neighbours showing up for one another through countless volunteer hours, food and financial donations, and the simple yet profound decision to see a problem in our community and choose to be part of the solution.

    If you’ve supported North York Harvest, you’ve helped build the foundation for everything that comes next.

    A person views a gallery wall with a timeline of North York Harvest Food Bank with interconnected honeycombs of both text and photos.

    The Hub represents the next step in our collective reimagining of what our food bank really is – vital, community-oriented infrastructure. North York Harvest Food Bank came into being when a number of smaller programs and organizations realized that they could all benefit from a shared truck and warehouse space. Over the next four decades, those needs have continued to grow and evolve.

    Building a stronger food system in Toronto

    Today, our warehouse and transportation fleet, along with our planning and logistics systems, staff and volunteers support hundreds of nonprofit organizations all across southern Ontario. We maintain our traditional work of distributing donations through our network of partners, and have found new ways to leverage our capacity and capabilities in support of our community. 

    Your support has also helped us grow innovative solutions like FoodReach, our social enterprise that procures and delivers affordable food for shelters, schools, libraries and community meal programs. Pooling this purchasing power, we can lower food prices across the nonprofit sector, increase the amount of food assistance that we can provide while freeing up resources for community programming.  Up to 70% of this food is grown or produced in Ontario, supporting local farms and manufacturers and helping to build a more resilient food system. By receiving, warehousing and distributing this food, it creates employment pathways for our clients through our Leadership in Logistics program. 

    Put together, our activities form a virtuous cycle; investing locally, generating income and creating jobs in our community through the way we distribute food and provide emergency assistance. Food insecurity is ultimately an economic challenge that requires an economic response. For North York Harvest, this starts with seeing ourselves as a vital piece of infrastructure, connected to the broader food system and local economy, and addressing the root causes of food insecurity.

    The Community Food Hub will take this thinking to the next level, writing a new chapter for North York Harvest Food Bank as we move towards our vision of a community where everyone can meet their food needs.

    Thank you for helping to write this next chapter with us.