Tag Archive: Thanksgiving

  1. Setting the Table – The Power of a Meal

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    A message from Aniska Ali,  North York Harvest’s New Director of Development and Marketing

    As Thanksgiving approaches, I, like many of you, am preparing to welcome family and friends to my home. Pumpkin printed napkins have been fished out of storage containers, recipes have been bookmarked, and shopping lists have been made. My daughter has been collecting leaves for weeks for our table’s centerpiece, her part of our family’s annual tradition. On Monday, she’ll help set the table, and I’ll fuss in the kitchen, bickering with my husband and my sister about how much sage to add to the stuffing and how frequently to baste the turkey. These are our rituals, these are the acts that make Thanksgiving familiar and special – these are things I’ll remember as time goes by.

    Food is a big part of my life. Talking about the power of it, and sadly, the lack of it for so many in our community fills my days. What often gets lost in our rush to make sure there’s enough is an understanding of the role food plays in uniting us. The sharing and enjoyment of a meal is a simple, but profound, pleasure that brings us together, across cultures, ages and backgrounds. Eating together is, and should be, a daily experience of connection.

    Unfortunately that is simply not the case for the 15,000 people we serve each month. Skyrocketing housing prices, precarious employment and social assistance rates that have failed to keep up with the cost of the living put the joy food brings out of reach for so many of our neighbours. Sadly, we know all too well that loneliness and isolation go hand in hand with living in poverty.

    That’s why North York Harvest offers programs like community kitchens to give people in our neighbourhood a chance to meet friends, cook together, and share a meal in a welcoming place.

    As Maudlyn, one of our members and a retired caterer told us recently, “This program is a commitment to myself.  It gets me out of the house to socialize with others. My favourite part is actually setting the table, it feels like we are having a real family meal”.

    Thank you for making stories like Maudlyn’s possible. Thank you for believing as we do that, everyone deserves a safe place where they can meet people, build friendships, feel included and eat delicious food regardless of their income. Thank you for investing in programs like these that make North York Harvest so much more than a food bank. We hope you know just how much your support means to us and the community we serve.

    From all of us here, Happy Thanksgiving!

    Looking for a way to make sure everyone has a place at the table? Make your gift here: https://northyorkharvest.com/donateffd/

  2. The Meaning of Thanksgiving

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    Guest Blog by Tina

    What does Thanksgiving mean to you?

    To me it means family, neighbours and community.

    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.

    This Thanksgiving, let’s Leave Hunger Behind.

     

     





  3. We Had a Great 2015!

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    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!

  4. 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.