Looking to have a deep impact on food insecurity in your neighbourhood this summer, but long-term volunteer commitments aren’t in the cards for you? Sign up to be a Community Champion today and you can make an immediate difference, on your own schedule!
What is a Community Champion? Someone who runs a food drive or fundraiser for Daily Bread because they share our belief that food is a human right, and no one should face barriers in accessing the food they need. They rally their networks of neighbours, congregations, families, friends, and coworkers to collect monetary donations or nonperishable food items, which are then delivered to Daily Bread to be distributed across the city to individuals and families experiencing hunger.
“The first time we collected donations on our street, we were fairly new to our neighbourhood,” said Katherine, a Junction-area Community Champion. “Seeing the bags filled with food waiting on neighbours’ doorsteps brought a great feeling, knowing that they recognized the impact of food insecurity. We felt more connected to our new community seeing that.”
Daily Bread makes it easy to become a Community Champion, with downloadable resources like a toolkit with fun fundraising and food drive ideas and a print-ready list of our most needed items. You can even create your own easily shareable fundraising page to track donations and engage your supporters.
With summer in full swing, it’s the perfect time to get your community involved. Host a summer barbecue or organize a park picnic and ask your guests to donate nonperishable food items. Not only will you be helping those in need, but you’ll also be bringing your community closer together during these sunny months.
With the affordability crisis driving food bank visits to unprecedented levels, we must rely now more than ever on our local community members, like you, for support. Before the pandemic, Daily Bread member agencies saw about 65,000 client visits each month. This past May, food Banks across Toronto saw an unprecedented 350,000 client visits – an increase of over 400%. By becoming a Community Champion, you can help ensure we can continue meeting the emergency food needs of those clients year-round.
Click here to find out how you can help raise much-needed food and funds to fight food insecurity in our city this summer.
