FoodReach improves food access for Toronto's most vulnerable by collaborating with community partners

TORONTO, Oct. 4, 2018 /CNW/ - After three years of establishing and perfecting its infrastructure, FoodReach is launching its new online portal that will allow community agencies access to affordable, fresh and nutritious food for their clients. A press conference was held today to introduce the portal and its key stakeholders.

Launched in 2015, FoodReach was founded by Parkdale Activity Recreation Centre (PARC), Toronto Public Health and the Toronto Foundation for Student Success. The Ontario Trillium Foundation and Metcalf Foundation provided the funding. FoodReach is built for agencies that serve Toronto's most vulnerable – children, individuals experiencing homelessness and low-income adults. In fact, PARC's own community meal program was one of the first to take advantage of this portal.

"The portal is simple to use and it leverages the power of group purchasing from a network of suppliers," said Alvin Rebick, spokesperson for FoodReach. "With a great partner in North York Harvest that manages the logistics, community agencies can get timely delivery of quality and affordable food."

Anita Prasad, a project coordinator at PARC, believes that FoodReach has had a tremendous positive impact on her program. "We serve approximately 350 meals a day, 365 days a year, with very limited resources." Ms. Prasad added, "Rather than having staff and volunteers doing the shopping at retail price, FoodReach is able to alleviate that responsibility thus allowing us to focus on what's most important – delivering our program to our clients."

With a vision of harnessing the power of non-profits to build healthier communities by providing reliable access to good food at a good price, FoodReach is inviting more agencies to join its network.

"By leveraging our expertise in food sourcing, warehousing and delivery, North York Harvest helps bring efficiency in our partner agencies as they can now focus on what they do best," Ryan Noble, Executive Director of North York Harvest Food Bank, explained. "We are delighted to be part of the solution that improves food access in the city and hopefully more organizations can take advantage this opportunity."

To become a member of FoodReach, please visit foodreach.ca for details.

SOURCE North York Harvest Food Bank

Media Contact: Henry Chiu | T: 416.523.9998 | E: [email protected]