Please Help Us Feed People in the Toronto Area
When you get home from work and open your fridge, what do you see? Is it food at first sight? Or is it empty?
Who We Are:
We are a group of 3rd and 4th year university students currently enrolled at York U – Glendon College in Toronto, and we have partnered with North York Harvest food bank in an attempt to raise funds to combat food insecurity.
Today we are honoured to present our new campaign “Where's the Food?” in which our goal is to raise funds which will contribute to the purchase of food items that will be sorted into food baskets. These baskets contain around $15 worth of food and are distributed to food bank clients bi-weekly. They are an important source of nutritional support for many regular, hard-working people who are in need despite being employed and working an average of 30 hours per week.
Our Goals for this Project:
- Raise $1000 for this food bank, and provide funds to create food baskets for 33 people for 1 month
- Donate all proceeds after the $100 mark to the food bank to assist them with food procurement
- Raise awareness about the growing problem of food insecurity in the Toronto area
Length of Fundraiser:
We will be trying our best to reach our goal within the next 2 weeks. The fundraiser will be shut down the week of April 2nd, 2024.
The Social Issue We're Trying To Help With:
Currently, Toronto is in a crisis. Food bank visits have increased drastically over the last two years. In 2023, the pace of visits ramped up even more with a staggering 51% increase compared to 2022. Many people, especially between the ages of 19-44, are finding themselves in an impossible situation.
The majority of clients are employed, and yet, still cannot afford to eat at least once a week, every week. “Do I pay for rent, or do I pay for food?” has unfortunately become a common question for the 2.53 million people who visited a food bank last year, and it’s one we never expected to see in a developed, modern city like Toronto.
Unfortunately, this is the harsh reality we are faced with. 89% of food bank clients live in unaffordable housing, and 46% of them have college or university degrees. On average, most clients end up having just $6.67 per day left to spend on food after covering expenses. Worst of all, 16% of children in the city have gone without meals at least once per week in the last six months. This is no way to live for a city like Toronto and we must do what we can to solve this problem as soon as possible.
Please help us today with a small donation, and support the regular, ordinary people like you and me who find themselves struggling in these difficult times. Your contributions will help feed a person who may be your neighbour, a friend, or a coworker, or someone you know who doesn't want to feel embarrassed asking for help.
Our Promises:
Please help us draw more attention to this issue by donating. For every $10 we raise, we pledge to send a letter to the Canadian government imploring them to rethink their housing strategy, as well as their other important policies such as inflation measures.
For More Information:
To find out more, please take a look at this report:
Thank you!
Organizer
George Portnoy
Organizer
Richmond Hill, ON
North York Harvest Food Bank
Beneficiary