Last night we hosted leaders from our member agencies across the city at our 2024 Annual General Meeting. We were honoured to break bread with so many dedicated people united in the fight against food insecurity and poverty in Toronto.
“Look at the faces in the room,” said Charles Jergl, VP Programs & Services at Daily Bread Food Bank. “These are the faces of love, the faces of caring, and the faces of commitment – to our neighbours, our community, and our city.”
Our team of chefs went all out in the kitchen, serving up dishes like seafood bouillabaisse, Moroccan braised lamb and crispy Brussel sprouts. As attendees dined, they approved motions, listened to speeches, and thanked both new and retiring board members.
Mayor Olivia Chow gave the keynote address for the second year in a row. She spoke about individual agencies’ challenges, the struggles of Torontonians turning to food banks now, and the work we must do to change that, like the city’s new school meals program. And she expressed her gratitude for the work of everyone in the room. “I want to thank you, all of you, for showing up day after day in the fight against hunger,” she said. “Even when you’re tired, you’re hungry, you’re exhausted — you keep showing up. And that is phenomenal.”
Attendees appointed two new board members that our Governance and Nominations Committee put forward from a pool of over 300 qualified candidates. We welcome Andrew Davis, Vice President of Marketing at Lactalis Canada; and Margaret Gunawan, BlackRock’s General Counsel, Americas and CCO Canada.
Yesterday also marked the end of Gale Kelly’s two-year term as our board chair. We are so grateful for her steady leadership during such a grave time, when Toronto sank into a severe food insecurity crisis.
“Gale has steered the ship through adverse waters, that is for sure,” said CEO Neil Hetherington. “In the last two years alone, we’ve gone from providing about 30 million pounds of food to this year 50 million pounds of food. That doesn’t just happen. It happens because there is fortitude and stick-to-itiveness that allows us to make the right decisions.”
And we showed our deep gratitude to four retiring board members — Karen Hsiung, Regan McGee, Anthony Santilli and Christine Yip — applauding them for eight years of service. “Each of them brought their A game to this organization, and for that I want to say thank you,” Neil said.
Most of all, last night was an opportunity for member agencies to network, empathize over shared struggles and inspire each other with best practices. Charles recognized the exponential impact of shared strength in his closing remarks.
“Together, we can create an even stronger network of support that extends beyond our individual efforts,” he said. “Collectively, we can build a community where everyone feels valued, heard, and has their right to food fulfilled.”
View more photos of last night’s event in our Facebook photo album. To learn more about our member agencies and our collective impact over the last fiscal year, read our 2024 Annual Impact Report.
