The North York Harvest Food Bank has received a transformational donation as hundreds of thousands of people in the GTA face uncertainty about where their next meal is coming from.
Sprott Foundation has announced they will be donating up to $4 million to the food bank.
“Starting today, every dollar donated to the North York Harvest Food Bank, the Sprott Foundation will turn into $5 dollars, up to $4 million,” shared North York Harvest Food Bank Executive Director Ryan Noble.
This is the largest donation the food bank has ever received, and it comes at a critical time. Their current warehouse in the North York community is falling apart.
There was a major flood a couple years ago and the refrigerator broke down so they are operating in a condensed space with limited storage. They have even had to turn away food at a time when demand is at a record high.
North York Harvest supplies a network of 40 food banks in the community and also supports other initiatives such as breakfast programs in Toronto schools. This major financial boost will help develop a master food hub that is three times the size of their current space.
Natasha Bowes, director of development at North York Harvest Food Bank, tells CityNews, currently, they are struggling to meet the growing need.
“We do have the option to rescue food and we have to turn away hundreds of thousand of kinds of food because we just don’t have the capacity,” said Bowes. “We do our best to not turn anyone away at least give them something, but it’s not what they deserve.”
In the new warehouse, the refrigerators’ system will be 10 times the size. It’s being called a game changer that will transition the food bank from an emergency response model to a long-term food security solution.
“Here in our city, one in 10 people made use of a food bank last year. At North York Harvest Food Bank, we’ve seen our numbers double and sometimes triple in the last number of years,” said Noble.
Construction will begin in the coming weeks with the hope the new warehouse will be up and running by December.