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September 2012
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Fill a Bag and Feed a Family this Thanksgiving
Hunger is everywhere this Thanksgiving. That means many families in our neighbourhoods will continue to struggle to put food on the table. Make a difference to people in need this holiday. Your donation this month will mean that families struggling with poverty and hunger will have food on their table. Join our Thanksgiving drive and help us reach our goals of $400,000 and 400,000 pounds of food. The food and funds you give will allow us to distribute much needed nutritious food through 200 food banks and meal programs in shelters, schools, and community centres.
Join the fight against hunger this Thanksgiving! Visit us online at www.dailybread.ca to start a fundraiser at
work or with friends, or to make a direct donation. Give us a call at 416-203-0050 to donate by phone. Alternatively, drop off non-perishable food to your local fire station. Most needed groceries are: canned fish, peanut butter, rice, pasta, soups and stews and canned vegetables.
For more information on running a fundraiser for Daily Bread, please contact Dayana Gomez at dayana@dailybread.ca.
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Thousands going hungry in the GTA, according to new Daily Bread report
At Queen’s Park on Wednesday morning, Daily Bread officially released the Who’s Hungry: Faces of Hunger report and launched the Thanksgiving Drive. Based on over 1700 interviews in almost 50 food banks across the GTA, this report lets us hear from people coming to food banks about what they are going through, why they are going hungry and how they are coping.
“While there has been a slight decrease in the percentage of children having to get food from a food bank, there has been an increase in the percentage of those children who are going hungry at least once a week. Same is true for adults—the hungry are getting hungrier,” said Richard Matern, acting director of research and the author of the newest Who’s Hungry: Faces of Hunger report.
This is the fourth year in a row that number of visits to food banks across the GTA has topped a million. Four years later, food bank visits remain 18 per cent above pre-recession levels and aren’t budging. “Poverty is not just a downtown Toronto problem and hasn’t been for awhile,” said Gail Nyberg, executive director of Daily Bread. “The suburbs are catching up. You can compare it to a doughnut, and downtown Toronto was the big hole in the middle where problems of hunger were especially visible. Now that hole is getting bigger and food bank visits are rising all over the GTA.”
Download the full Who’s Hungry: Faces of Hunger report here.
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Giving a hand up, not a hand out
Heather
Brady, Communications Volunteer
It’s only 8 a.m. and Chef Emillio is already working his magic in the kitchen, preparing a healthy and delicious breakfast for those who rely on the services of 416 Community Support for Women, one of Daily Bread’s member agencies. With the help of his kitchen assistants, Emillio will prepare breakfast as well as lunch and a special supper for individuals with heart-related health problems. These meals are served to over 100 women every day using donations that they receive from Daily Bread Food Bank as well as other organizations.
Located in a large Victorian home in the east end of Toronto, 416 Community Support for Women is a daytime drop in program for women looking for support while coping with isolation, addiction and mental health issues. The support offered by 416 to these women takes many forms. Rosie Smythe, Executive Director, explains that the overall goal of the agency is create a home away from home, a safe place for women to come and be part of a community where they belong.
Along with providing daily meals, 416 volunteers and staff also hold a weekly food bank and fresh produce market which serves 70 to 80 women. When the fresh produce market was first introduced, a lot of time and energy went into educating women on the importance of regularly eating fruits and vegetables. Over time the market has become increasing popular and is now run by the women themselves. Learn more about 416 Community Support for Women at our blog!
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Support a housing benefit for Ontario
Speaking
at the Queen’s Park launch of the Who’s Hungry report, Daily Bread’s acting
director of research told reporters and government staff that “weare hopeful that a housing benefit will be championed by the Social Assistance Review of Ontario when their report comes out this fall. We know it can work to make a difference in lives of people who have to choose between paying rent or putting food on the table,” said Matern.
Currently, a person coming to a food bank spends an average of 71 per cent of what little income they have on putting a roof over their heads, leaving just $5.83 for everything else including transportation, winter clothes, food
and medication. Learn More.
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Quotes
from people coming to food banks, from the newest Who’s Hungry report.
“In [another country] I was completing my
PhD in chemistry. When I came to Canada my qualifications were not recognized
and I could not get work in my field. This caused much disappointment and
frustration and depression.”
“Two years ago $100 could buy food for one
month. Now $100 only lasts a week. The increase in the cost of food has gone up
way faster than the money to survive on.”
“I do not feel comfortable asking. I ask
for my kids—if it were just me I would not come.”
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