The Mississauga Food Bank Launches Spring Drive with a goal of $25,000 and 75,000 lbs of food

Mississauga, ON March 23, 2012 — While many people are looking ahead to summer vacations; the clients of The Mississauga Food Bank have little to look forward to. That’s why this year’s Spring Drive is aiming to raise $25,000 and 75,000 pounds of food in order to ensure an adequate food supply for families through the lean summer months. The Spring Drive will run from March 26 to April 30.

“We’ve set an ambitious goal for the Spring Drive this year and we know it’s going to be a challenge. If we can raise $25,000 and 75,000 pounds of food during this drive, it means families in Mississauga won’t go hungry this summer,” says The Mississauga Food Bank’s executive director, Chris Hatch.

Volunteers will be collecting food and funds at four Loblaw locations on April 7^th and there are opportunities for volunteers to get involved by sorting and packing food in the food bank warehouse. Warehouse shifts are available on April 7^th, 9^th, 14^th and 15^th for interested groups and individuals. All details are available on The Mississauga Food Bank website at www.themississaugafoodbank.org.

While volunteers collect, sort and pack food, food bank trucks and drivers are getting ready for what will hopefully be a busy few weeks of picking up donations from local fire halls and community food drives.

“Not only are our trucks delivering the food to food banks and meal programs, they are also picking up extra food during the drive which means we plan on having trucks out on weekends and volunteers drivers helping us out,” says warehouse operations manager, Stephen Pullar.

The Spring Drive runs until April 30. You can make a difference by donating online at www.themississaugafoodbank.org or by calling 905-270-5589. Cheques can be mailed to The Mississauga Food Bank at 36-2550 Goldenridge Rd Mississauga ON L4X 2S3.

Drop off nutritious, non-perishable food at any fire hall. Most needed food items include: canned vegetables, canned fish and meat, stew, and peanut butter.

For more information on the Spring Food Drive, visit www.mississaugafooddrive.org or contact Meghan Nicholls at 905.270.5589 x226 or meghan@themississaugafoodbank.org. Opportunities are also available for groups to organize an internal food drive. More information and tools for promotion can be found at www.mississaugafooddrive.org.

TODAY IS THE LAST DAY TO ENTER!

As a special thank you to our online supporters, we would like to invite you to enter to win a BlackBerry PlayBook (donated by Bell Canada) valued at $599. You can enter in our draw right now online »

Entry in the draw is free, but the contest ends on March 23 at 11:59pm and we’ll announce our winner on March 26! Once you’ve entered, you can improve your chances of winning by helping us spread the word about how The Mississauga Food Bank is fighting hunger and feeding hope.

The winner of our draw will receive a brand-new Blackberry PlayBook, a professional-grade tablet that helps transform the way you work and play by combining the features you need with a powerful, ultra-portable design you want. It has a 7-inch display and weighs less than 1 lb!

By entering in this draw and sending it to family and friends, you are playing a key role in growing our network of those who want to fight hunger in Mississauga and making it possible for us to provide almost 2 million meals each year.

Enter in our free draw »

6 tickets have become available for A Night at the Warehouse! Please contact Meghan Nicholls at meghan@themississaugafoodbank.org if you would like to purchase some.

It’s going to be a great night raising funds to ensure we can continue to feed the 16,000 kids who are hungry in Mississauga.

The Ontario Association of Food Banks (OAFB) released a new report on hunger in Ontario. According to their report, there are 395,000 individuals in Ontario who rely on food banks. You can download the report here or check out the article on the report from the Toronto Star here.

• 395,000 individuals a month rely on food banks

• One in 33 Ontarians goes hungry each month

• 39% are single adults

• 38% are under age 18

• 45% are on welfare

• 10% are first-time users

• Average user pays 72% of income on rent

We’re pleased to announce that A Night at the Warehouse is sold out! Thanks to all the ticket sellers and purchasers for their support of this event.

More tickets will become available, so if you’d like to get on the waiting list, please email Meghan Nicholls at meghan@themississaugafoodbank.org.

If you’re on facebook, go ‘Like’ The Mississauga Food Bank today! You can find us at fb.com/themississaugafoodbank.

And while you’re on Facebook, why not use your Timeline cover photo to show your support!

Sample of a Facebook Timeline with a food bank cover image

Just download the cover image below and set it as your Timeline cover image – it’s easy and a great way to help support feeding your neighbours here in Mississauga.

To download this image, you can right click (PC) or command click (MAC) on the link and select “save link as” (Firefox & Chrome), “save target as” (Internet Explorer), or “download linked file” (Safari) to save a copy of the file. Then you can upload your new Cover to your Facebook profile.
 

Square One Store Donates $7988 to Help Feed those in Need

Mississauga, ON February 8th – The Mississauga Food Bank is slated to receive a gift of $7,988 from Whole Foods Market’s Bag Hunger 2012 campaign. All of the funds will support The Mississauga Food Bank in their mission to fight hunger in our community.

“We are grateful for the support provided by Whole Foods Market Square One and their customers in the Bag Hunger Campaign,” says Meghan Nicholls, Director of Marketing and Fund Development for The Mississauga Food Bank. “$7,988 allows us to distribute over 31,000 meals into the community; which makes a big difference for families who are hungry in Mississauga.

The Bag Hunger campaign gives Whole Foods Market (WFM) customers and team members an opportunity to donate at the cash register and help those in need.  “This is the first year we’ve offered the program as a new store and we are thrilled with our results,” says Lisa McAllister, Community Relations Specialist for WFM.

“The generosity of our customers and team members is overwhelming,” says Lisa Slater, WFM Store Team Leader. “Actively supporting our community is one of Whole Foods Market’s core values. We are extremely proud of our Bag Hunger program and are thrilled to partner with The Mississauga Food Bank.”

For information about WFM’s philanthropic programs, visit www.wholefoods.com.

Don’t know what to do with your old and unwanted electronics or print cartridges?

We have an innovative way to properly dispose of your e-waste and raise money for The Mississauga Food Bank!

Not only will you keep these items form entering landfill sites—you’ll also be raising funds for The Mississauga Food Bank to help fight hunger and feed hope for our neighbours living in poverty.

Click here for more information and next steps »

Every year, The Mississauga Food Bank provides almost 2 million meals via 30 community agencies. Our goal is to add new agencies to our network to ensure people who are hungry can access food in their neighbourhood. We post agencies on our website as they join on the page called “Partner Agencies”.

The most recent agencies to join are:

• St Mary Star of the Sea Community meal program
• ReachOut Committee youth meals and after-school snack program
• Square One Older Adult Centre
• Breakfast with Santa Foundation

Join us in welcoming them!

Thanks to your donations, we beat our goal of 125,000 lbs of food with 156,106 lbs and raised donations of $183,918 towards our $200,000 goal.

Just because the Holiday Drive is over doesn’t mean you can’t still donate! As always, every $1 you donate allows us to distribute $7.50 worth of food, so make your donation today!