Thank you so much for making the end of 2015 amazing! Because of you we were able to provide 2.5 MILLION meals to people that are hungry in Toronto
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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!
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…
…And SO much more!
It’s not too late to make a gift to provide meals for people that are hungry! You can still organize a food and funds drive or make a financial donation here!
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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!
I remember when I was a kid, we would always take the long journey (at least it seemed at the time) to
my Grandparents’ house to spend the holidays. My grandmother would always cook a large family dinner for all of us including my aunts, uncles and cousins. There was always a scent of fresh baked bread throughout the house; I can still remember it to this day.
As the Holiday Season quickly approaches, you’re probably thinking about what kind of delicious food to make and share with your friends and family. Perhaps your grandparents passed down some holiday traditions and recipes that you can’t wait to use.
Thinking about my grandparents and family around the holidays makes me think of the seniors that are alone at this time of year. My heart goes out to the thousands of senior citizens that access a food bank every month; just this year alone there has been a 35% increase in usage of food banks among seniors*.
One of our largest Community Food Spaces, Bathurst-Finch, reflects the rise of seniors using food programs. Many seniors living in the Bathurst-Finch area do not have a family or friends to spend time with; many have emigrated from other countries. Sometimes they feel as though they have no one and nowhere to go.
Because of the support of community members like you, we are able to help these seniors by providing healthy meals and a sense of community. Bathurst-Finch runs a community kitchen program that is a great way for them to get together for companionship and bonding over the joy of food. The seniors reach out to one another to make sure that they are not alone and isolated, especially around the holidays. A wonderful program that shows kindness and inclusion to those that need it most.
As part of the Community Kitchen program, many of the seniors would share with each other recipes 
from their home country that they taught their children as they grew up. The community even recently put out a cookbook of most loved recipes!
The main goal of the Hot Pot Cookbook Project was to support socialization of seniors as well as learning from each other culturally. The name was inspired by a traditional way of cooking in Asia that gathers community members around a simmering “Hot Pot” to cook together. The cookbook really showcases the amazing people, culture and food found in the neighbourhood.
Support the Bathurst Finch Community
In the holiday spirit of sharing recipes through generations, I wanted to share with you some amazing dessert recipes from the Hot Pot Cookbook to enjoy with your loved ones for the holidays.
Make sure you let me know how your baking turns out!
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!
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:
Thank you for generously supporting your community!
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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!
**Isha’s name has been changed by her request
Federal election season is just around the corner, and with the spotlight shining brighter on the many social, economic and environmental issues impacting Canadians, I’m finding myself filled with conflicting emotions. On the one hand, I know that objectively speaking, I live in amazing country; one that encourages its citizens to share their voices, and offers many social services to enhance their quality of life. But just as there’s so much to be proud of in Canada, there are also many reasons to be critical.
For example, this month alone, over 840,000 of your fellow Canadians, 37% of which are children, will go to their local food bank looking for their next meal. That number has grown steadily since the recession of 2009 and with little national policy in place to combat food insecurity, there’s no reason to believe that things will turn around soon.
Simply put, in a country as developed and prosperous as Canada, no one should have to worry about where their next meal will come from.
Because of your donations, food banks like North York Harvest are able to make sure that Canadians in need can put good, healthy meals on the table. But that doesn’t mean that the issue has been resolved.
On October 19th 2015, we will go to the polls to decide who makes the big decisions in our country moving forward. With food bank usage across the country at all-time high levels, now is the time to let politicians know that food security is important to you and to millions of other Canadians, and that improvements to the current policy need to be made.
Here are a few simple actions that you can take to make sure that issues surrounding hunger and food banks are not forgotten this election season.
1) Contact the Member of Parliament candidates in your riding and let them know that food security in Canada is important to you and your neighbours. Call their office, write them a letter, email, or even tweet at them. It’s going to be their job to represent the views of their constituents; so make sure that they know that you’re passionate about this issue.
2) Attend local debates and try to get the issue of hunger in Canada on the agenda. This is great way to ensure that the topic becomes part of the discussion during the campaign and that strategies are being put forth by candidates.
3) On October 19th, head to the polls and vote for the candidate or party that represents your hope for a Canada without hunger!
If you’re not sure what party best aligns with your beliefs, you might want to take this on-line quiz.
This election season let’s make our communities without a enough food a priority. Let us know what you’re doing to spread the word by tweeting at us today with hash-tag #votefood4all.
*Statistics taken from Food Banks Canada’s Hunger Count 2014 Report*