Click on the image below to read The Face of Hunger in Mississauga Annual Impact Report.
A Message from our
Board Chair & CEO
What a year we’ve had, Mississauga! With COVID-19 recovery and rising costs of living, community members like you have continued to show an outpouring of generosity.
We invite you to read our special Face of Hunger Annual Impact Report, which shares how your support has enabled us to keep up with demand in real-time as inflation and a lack of adequate government support is leaving our low-income neighbours in poverty.
Your generosity enabled The Mississauga Food Bank to distribute over 5.2 million pounds of food through our network of over 50 agencies. That’s food for over 5.6 million meals, which is a 22% increase from last year!
In this year’s report, you’ll also find suggestions for how you and your community can advocate on behalf of your hungry neighbours for long-term structural solutions and systemic change to reduce poverty.
Click here to read the full message from David Estabrooks, Board Chair, and Meghan Nicholls, CEO.
45% of all people living in poverty in Mississauga turned to our network this year, which is almost double what we saw last year.
From June 2021 – May 2022, 30,038 food bank users, including 10,053 children, visited a food bank in Mississauga – almost 7,300 of whom were first-time food bank users. Thanks to your generosity, The Mississauga Food Bank was able to serve 16% more users than last year.
While families with children continue to make up the largest share of households, the number of single-person households that have to turn to a food bank continues to grow.
Sakeenah Homes is one of the agencies that joined The Mississauga Food Bank network this year. They run transitional shelters for those needing housing, many of whom are women and children, newcomers, or refugees.
“We recently started The People’s Market to provide support for anyone facing food insecurity. Partnering with The Mississauga Food Bank has been a really good thing for our program. Our clients’ quality of life is improved by offering fresh foods for their families.”
– Nazish Tayab, Director of Programs, Sakeenah Homes
Meet Chantal, a single mom who turned to her local neighbourhood food bank when she was struggling financially.
She recently shared with us how you’ve helped make a difference for her and her son’s life.
“To the donors, I want to say thank you. You are tremendously helping and food is so important. It’s so important over anything else.”
Your ongoing support ensures The Mississauga Food Bank can keep pace with increased demand and enables us to provide uninterrupted service to our community.
Our 2021-2024 strategic plan guided this year’s efforts to provide much-needed healthy food to your hungry neighbours through the pandemic. The areas of focus for the first year of this plan were:
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Build Long-Term Infrastructure & Efficiencies.
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Strengthen The Mississauga Food Bank Agency Network.
Read the full report to see how your support made an impact!
Vulnerable neighbours come to the food bank with different needs, backgrounds and experiences. We offer respectful and dignified support to everyone through specialized programs that you make possible.
Thanks to your support, neighbours receive the government support they’re entitled to.
Our Income Tax Filing Clinic volunteers provide free tax filing services to neighbours with modest incomes and simple tax solutions. Low-income households can receive tax benefits that provide much-needed additional funds – every dollar counts!
“The tax clinic explained all the procedures and documentation for filing taxes, and what expenses and benefits we can claim. We are glad that we can apply for [benefits] which will help us pay rent and save for our children’s education.”
Meet Celia, who recently moved with her husband and daughter as refugees. They had to make ends meet as newcomers.
”The difference between The Mississauga Food Bank and other food banks is that I can select the things that I can cook in the Mexican style or in the style that we most like in our family.”
Volunteers make feeding hungry neighbours possible by choosing to dedicate their free time to give back and help their community. To our volunteers – you inspire us with your energy and passion to help neighbours in need, keep our programs, office and warehouse running, and so much more.
Thank you to our team of 1,905 volunteers who contributed over 30,000 hours!
We couldn’t do this without your commitment.
Click here to read the story of two of our amazing Food Sorting Volunteers, Gia and Sam.
In 2021-2022, you donated food and funds totalling $20.2 million to feed hungry children, seniors, families, and other neighbours across our city. That’s the most Mississauga has ever stepped up to support our hungry neighbours, and we are endlessly grateful for you.
Donations & Income Breakdown:
Your partnership is providing much more than food. You are making sure that neighbours in need can pay their rent, afford transportation to get to work, pay for medication, and much more.
Expenses Breakdown:
For over 15 years, the Region of Peel Community Investment Program has provided funding to The Mississauga Food Bank that has helped feed thousands of hungry neighbours every year. We are especially grateful for their increased support since the start of the pandemic, which enables us to meet the unprecedented increase in demand.
Thank you, Region of Peel, for your ongoing support!
Advocate!: Fight to improve Ontario’s Social Assistance programs
30% of food bank users in Mississauga rely on social assistance as their main source of income. With a single person receiving a maximum of only $733 through Ontario Works (OW) or $1,169 through the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) per month, social assistance rates have not kept up with rising inflation and do not cover the true costs of food, clothing, rent, and other basic necessities.
This is legislated poverty. Contact your Member of Provincial Parliament and ask them to prioritize increasing social assistance rates to the $2,000/month benchmark set by CERB and tying future increases to inflation.
Click here to learn more about how you can advocate to support neighbours facing food insecurity.
Build a Stronger Workforce
Workers need access to stable employment that provides a living wage and at least 5 paid sick days, and government assistance programs should not be slashed when folks gain employment in minimum wage jobs.
Encourage your workplace and local businesses to become certified Living Wage Employers, going beyond the minimum wage. This change starts when we demand more for our community from our local government and businesses.
Fight for adequate investment in affordable housing
3 out of 4 food bank users say affordable housing would most significantly change their quality of life.
In the last two years, the waitlist for affordable housing in Peel nearly doubled to 28,227 people.
Use your voice and your vote to tell elected officials to create and repair more social and supportive housing units, and expand protections for low-income renters.
Thank you for standing by your community’s side and supporting The Mississauga Food Bank as we all work towards a Mississauga where no one goes hungry.
Click here for additional and historical information related to outputs and outcomes in this report.
