SmartPrint Winter Food Drive: Fighting Hunger with the North York Harvest Food Bank

December 4th 2018 to December 20th 2018, the SmartPrint team participated in a Winter Food Drive to give food and funds for the North York Harvest Food Bank. Each year, the food bank organizes its Winter Food Drive: Reach for a Million with the goal to raise a combined total of food and funds that equal one million. The food bank is the main one for Northern Toronto and distributed over 2.3 million pounds of food in 2017 through 77 community programs.

There are many people facing hunger, and according to the 'Who's Hungry 2018' report, respondents cited that low average monthly incomes and having to pay for rent, phone bills, and transportation caused them to go without food which can make people vulnerable to chronic health issues and can make existing ailments worse. Further, food bank usage in Toronto suburbs has increased by more than 60% over the past 10 years, 28% of clients being 18 years and younger, and 41% being single.

SmartPrint Employees Come Together

James Dunn organized the initiative, and encouraged all SmartPrint employees to make a food and/or monetary donation.

Dunn said: "Earlier this year, we participated in volunteering at the Daily Bread Food Bank, and so, I thought this time around, it would be great if all of the SmartPrint staff could be encouraged to participate in helping the fight against hunger. Around this time of year, when many of us are preparing for the holidays, buying gifts, and enjoying a warm meal with friends and family, there are many people that are not so fortunate and are simply trying to make ends meet. And by getting all staff to participate in donating food and funds can also get them to help think about and support others. Not only should people be supporting the food banks at this time of year, but it's important to know that there are many people hungry every day and the food banks require continued support".

Overall the Winter Food Drive was a success with over 30 bags of food collected and placed under the SmartPrint Christmas tree. Further, $200 was generously donated by the employees, which according to the food bank, every $1 donated can turn into $3 to spend on nutritious foods for their clients.

The bags were then collected by Jen Infuso, Jey Prathapan, and Ishan Shah and delivered to Firehall #116, located at Leslie St and Sheppard Avenue East.

Jen Infuso, said "We delivered the food to the firehall and the firefighters were very pleased with the amount of food that was donated. I was so happy that we could participate in the food drive as it was an excellent way for us to help those in need have a bit of a brighter Christmas. It also felt nice seeing the firefighter's donation area fill up after our visit".