There’s been lots in the news recently about how best to support food banks. We’re grateful for all of the ways our community takes action against hunger, and each type of gift is essential in making sure 16,000 people each month have the food and support they need to thrive.
Hunger doesn’t hibernate and neither did you during the 2016/2017 Winter Food Drive! Because of your INCREDIBLE support, funds, volunteer time and enthusiasm we raised OVER $250,000 & 250,000 lbs. of food!
This means that we can provide 750,000 meals to people that are in need of food this winter. THANK YOU!
There were more than 200 food drives in our great city run by families, volunteers, businesses, schools, faith groups, community groups and more.
Some highlights of the Winter Food Drive include:
Incredible Employee Engagement
The TRCA has been a community partner of NYH for a number of years but recently we have done more projects and programs together. All of the TRCA staff are involved in food and fun fund events to support of the work of NYH!
They’ve collected food, held raffles and draws, hosted food events and had a great time doing it!
During the winter food drive, the TRCA came in to sort food and also held their annual holiday party in support of providing 5,525 meals this winter to families in our communities.
Foods from Around the World
Delarie Murphy, Mutsa A Mawora-Lewis and Sarkis Kurkjian are international students from Citi College . They joined the Winter Food Drive and proved it doesn’t take many people to make a BIG impact. Hailing from Syria, Jamaica & Trinidad; these incredible students raised 530 lbs. of food! Not only that but they knew that many people appreciate food that is familiar when visiting the food bank – so they made sure to donate food they enjoy from back home. Food bank users come from all backgrounds and it is greatly appreciated when they feel comfortable with the food they feed their families.
Redtastic
The Redtastic team is a group of volunteers that dedicate their time to support Kadian when she runs hundreds of sort groups throughout the year. Jane, Janet, Gord, Sari, Bonnie, Linda, Haley, Steve, Enzo, Laura and Willare always reliable and make a big difference in the warehouse. During the winter food drive they were extremely helpful by providing guidance and support to not only Kadian but to new volunteers. Even when a group isn’t scheduled they will make time to come sort during the slot available. They are incredibly dedicated and we couldn’t sort through all of the donations that make it on the food bank shelves without them!
Biggest Food Drive
We had a tie this year for the largest food drive. Schools around the city are huge contributors to the food drives and this year Ledbury Park PS& Faywood ABCboth raised an incredible 4500 lbs. of food EACH! That will provide 13,500 meals to the community!
Families Feeding Families
Michael Bros. Excavating has been a donor to NYH for many years. A company run by siblings Peter, Tullio and Rosemary; they care deeply about giving back to their community.
This year they encouraged employees, vendors and contractors to join them in providing food for families in need. They raised an incredible 2,714 lbs. of food and came by the office 4 times to drop off their donations.
“We are very proud of our employees and brokers and value everyone’s involvement and cooperation. We will definitely encourage our group to once again, collect and drop off non-perishable food in the spring for our Easter Drive.” says Rosemary.
Thank you so much to everyone that put their time, effort, funds and support into making this the best food drive yet!
Thousands of people right in your community are able to access the food they need to get by this winter because of YOU! Thank you!
We are amazed as always by the tremendous support we received during the winter food drive and look forward to sharing a food friendly 2017 with you!
It’s that crazy time of year! The cold weather and December brings a busy time for us all and if you’re anything like me, you’ve got some holiday plans on your schedule too. I’m tired just thinking about all that’s going on before we kick off the new year.
What do the holidays mean to you? Is it about family and celebration? Or maybe a time to reflect on your past year and what is to come? The holidays can be different for every person.
But, the holidays can be harder for some people than others. Sometimes they can be much harder than they were just the year before.
Meet Penny.
Penny has two daughters aged 7 and 11. As a single mom, she works full time while her daughters go to school and take dance classes.
Everything was going well until the unexpected happened.
All of a sudden, Penny was also needed to be caregiver to her two elderly and sick grandparents. She had not planned for this kind of bump in the road.
We’ve all had those times where something unexpected has happened. Luckily for some people there is financial support or family to fall back on during those times. Others, like Penny find themselves trapped.
“I didn’t know what to do. I’ve always been a planner but I didn’t know how I was going to plan my way through this,” Penny says of the experience, “All of a sudden I had to take care of the whole family – not just myself and the girls.”
With her family depending on her, she knew that she needed outside help. She wouldn’t have time or money to take care of everything – especially during this time of year.
That’s when Penny ended up at the food bank.
Between the hamper that she receives every other week from her local food bank, store sales and coupon clipping; Penny has found a way to ensure that everyone in her family is able to eat nutritious meals each day.
“If not for the food bank, there’s no way I would be able to feed my family and give my kids the holiday celebration that they deserve.” Penny says, “The holidays are much harder than usual but I’m glad to know that I can get help – anyone can.”
Penny has been saving up bit by bit to be able to give her kids gifts and a nice dinner.
“I want them to have what other kids have, they shouldn’t be left out of a holiday. Thanks to the help we are getting from the food bank – they don’t have to be.”
Because of your support during the Winter Food Drive – Penny will be able to serve a healthy holiday meal to her whole family and that is something to celebrate!
Hunger doesn’t hibernate and we can make a difference for families just like Penny’s!
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…
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!
