Charity Intelligence (Ci) Canada is a non-profit organization that researches and analyzes Canada’s charities to enable funders to make informed and effective giving decisions that reward charities for their results. Ci has announced that The Mississauga Food Bank is a Ci Recommended Charity for 2010!

In their notification to us, Ci said:

“After rigorous and independent analysis including due diligence, assessment of transparency and accountability, cost efficiency, and charity results, and undergoing a Recommendation Committee review, Charity Intelligence Canada (Ci) has concluded its analysis of Canadian charities for 2010. We would like to thank your organization for participating in this analysis. Ci has made the final selection of recommended Canadian charities delivering top results for Canadians in need. The top picks were selected from an initial pool of over 200 charity contacts. Ci is most pleased to announce the recommendation of The Mississauga Food Bank as a Ci Recommended Charity 2010. The Mississauga Food Bank excels in addressing a social issue, is cost efficient, and most importantly, has a track record of producing outstanding results for Canadians in need.”

Ci’s list of Recommended Charities for 2010 was released publicly in late October.  Ci will print and distribute, across Canada, copies of our findings, create postings on our website, address the media, and provide us with the electronic copies of our organization’s fact sheets.

The purpose of Ci is to get as much money to the Recommended Charities as possible. This is accomplished through private client services, contacting friends, their national and global network, funders, and discussing the work of Recommended Charities. Their goal is to flow donations to charities that excel in delivering services to Canadians in need so that giving can have impact. Ci does this on a best-efforts basis and hopes to continue to significantly increase the amount of money directed towards the Recommended Charities.

We at The Mississauga Food Bank are THRILLED to have received this distinction, and look forward to developing a relationship with Charity Intelligence further.

Click here to read the Charity Intelligence report on The Mississauga Food Bank.

Nikki Sandhu (Manager of Volunteer Programs) completed her six-month contract with The Mississauga Food Bank on Friday October 29th.  She did not have much of a break since next week she assumes a new role as Volunteer Coordinator at the Volunteer Centre of Guelph-Wellington. During the past six months, Nikki has realigned our volunteer programs with our new hub & spoke structure and has implemented our new on-line volunteer management system (Volunteer Impact).  We extend our heartfelt thanks and appreciation for all of Nikki’s hard work and dedication and wish her continued success.

We are also pleased to announce that Robin Harding will be joining the The Mississauga Food Bank on Monday November 1^st as our full-time Manager of Volunteer Resources.  Robin has an extensive background in volunteer and human resource management and most recently was Manager Human Resources at The Ottawa Mission.  Robin has worked for United Way/Centreaide Ottawa and Stikeman Elliott LLP, Toronto where she developed their volunteer, community outreach, and human resource programs.  Robin has also been a very active volunteer with Girl Guides Canada and the Red Cross. She holds a BA from University of Western Ontario , and MBA from the University of Phoenix, and a Graduate Certificate in Human Resources Management. You can reach her at robin@themississaugafoodbank.org if you’d like to say hello. Welcome Robin!

After setting an ambitious goal of 125,000 pounds of food, The Mississauga Food Bank is proud to announce that we have achieved our goal for the Fall Food Drive! As of October 24th, the total amount of food raised was 134,362 pounds! This is an incredible feat, and the largest food drive in the history of The Mississauga Food Bank and couldn’t have been done without the support of the Mississauga community. Thanks to your generosity, we have raised enough food to feed 5,374 of our hungry neighbours.

Thanks to all of those who made this amazing Fall Food Drive possible:

• EMD Serono, Fall Food Drive 2010 Sponsor
• Volunteers who handed out bags at grocery stores across the City on Thanksgiving weekend
• Volunteers who sorted all 134,362 pounds of food on October 16-17 and October 23-24
• Mississauga firefighters who accepted donations at fire halls across the City
• Local grocery stores who allowed containers to collect food in their stores – sometimes a lot of food!
• The Mississauga News for their help in distributing 125,000 paper donation bags
• Tim Hortons Store Owners of Mississauga for running ads on-screen in their stores
• All those AMAZING supporters in Mississauga who donated food!

The Mississauga Food Bank is always in need of donated food, not just at Thanksgiving time. If you would ever like to run a food drive at your school, business or religious group, you can find all the information at www.mississaugafooddrive.org.

Thanks to Naticon General Contracting and Chris Vitali for their support in the renovations and construction here at The Mississauga Food Bank!

Here’s how it works:

1.      Sil’s Auto Care has established The Mississauga Food Bank as a Community Outreach Partner in their Fundraising Portal.

2.     For every Referral generated by TMFB that is a new consumer (that’s YOU!) Sil’s will add an average of $50 to The Mississauga Food Bank’s Fundraising Account.

3.     Each new consumer will receive Sil’s Customer Care Kit containing:

a.       Rewards Card that earns dollars towards future visits

b.      24 Hour Continent Wide Roadside Assistance

c.       Continent Wide Warranty

5.       TMFB will receive 1% of all dollars spent by all consumers referred by TMFB for as long as they remain clients of Sil’s.  In order to be considered an active consumer they must return to Sil’s at least once every year.

Sil’s is also collecting food, and giving out food bank information to all their customers – what a great partnership!

So if you’re looking for a new mechanic, check out Sil’s Auto Care Centre! You can even book an appointment with them online – just let them know The Mississauga Food Bank sent you!