Fort York Food Bank Call to Action: The Great Canadian Giving Challenge

By The Fort York Food Bank Board of Directors

TORONTO, June 4, 2018 /CNW/ - The Fort York Food Bank is asking the Toronto community to join us for the Great Canadian Giving Challenge this June. We hope that you can help us to inspire Canadians to say YES to charitable giving this June, a time when giving reaches its lowest levels.

Summer is such a wonderful time in Canada – great weather and longer days mean more fun outdoor activities, weekends away, BBQs and much more. It's easy for Canadians to forget to support their favourite charities and causes. To help save charities coast-to-coast from the summer-giving drought, CanadaHelps and The GIV3 Foundation have launched the fourth annual Great Canadian Giving Challenge.

What is The Great Canadian Giving Challenge? It is a national public contest to benefit any registered Canadian charity. Every $1 donated to a registered charity in June via CanadaHelps.org or GivingChallenge.ca, automatically enters the charity to win an additional $10,000 donation. The grand prize draw is on Canada Day and one lucky charity will receive the grand prize of $10,000.

Did the Great Canadian Giving Challenge make a difference last year? In 2017, the third annual Great Canadian Giving Challenge, 77,785 Canadians participated, donating almost $10 million to over 10,000 charities, representing an 83% increase in donations compared to June 2014 and a 59% increase compared to 2015.

Who is Fort York Food Bank? FYFB was founded in 1998 and is one of the largest local food banks in Toronto; it is a registered charity and is non-denominational. FYFB is a member agency of the Daily Bread Food Bank and Second Harvest. It serves a rapidly growing area, and while much of the neighbourhoods in the community are gentrifying, there remains a considerable number of vulnerable people who require food bank services to stave off hunger and reconnect with their community.

What would we do with $10,000? The clients we serve are in the central Toronto area, we need additional funds to defray increased leasing costs and renovation expenses as well as food expenses for dairy products for clients. This year will be one of the toughest for our food bank as earlier this year we had to unexpectedly move to a new location, in a higher rent neighbourhood - we need your help!

We are proud of the positive impact we've made supporting the more vulnerable members of our community. FYFB serves approximately 1,000 clients every month who survive on an average of $4 per day after occupancy related expenses:

40% are recent immigrants or refugees | 15% are children | 18% are seniors

Please let us know if you have any questions or are interested in an interview. We are available to speak to you about The Great Canadian Giving Challenge and what our charity is bringing to this community.

Kind regards,

Emily Sands
Fort York Food Bank Board of Directors
[email protected] | 647-567-9497

Follow us on Social Media:
Facebook: Fort York Food Bank | Twitter: @FYFoodbank | Instagram: FYFoodBank

SOURCE Fort York Food Bank

Emily Sands, Fort York Food Bank Board of Directors, [email protected] | 647-567-9497