What's Happening @ FYFB

Happy Holidays from FYFB

Each year I write to you all to thank you for supporting FYFB's work during the past 12 months and this year is no exception. That's not exactly true though, because this year has been exceptional. We've all seen the impact of the economic downturn has had on our friends and family. Many of those Torontonians who were already vulnerable became even more so as 2009 progressed.

At FYFB we saw 30% more clients this year but something amazing happened too -- donations kept pace with the increase. With your help and the help of our amazing volunteers and partners, we were able to handle the increased demand. We now see as many clients every day as we used to see on our busiest Saturday -- but we're coping. We need your help now more than ever so that we can ensure that our clients, including hundreds of children, have a merry holiday season.

I invite you all to join us to see first-hand the work being done at FYFB at our Holiday Open House and Volunteer Recognition night at 797 Dundas Street West on Wednesday, December 9 at 6:00 p.m.

Thank you again for your support this year, we couldn't have done it without you.

Ravi Sreedharan,
FYFB President

Support the Annual Holiday Fund Appeal

With less than a month to go, we need to raise nearly $12,000 to meet our Holiday Fund Appeal goal of $25,000. To everyone who has generously contributed to help families in need during the holidays, we thank you.

For those of you still to give, the Annual Fund Appeal is critical to our ability the needs of our neighbours who are living in poverty at this time of the year. Your donation helps to provide special holiday food baskets, healthy holiday meals from our community kitchen and important counselling support.

With hundreds of children in our community relying on FYFB each month for basic food supplies, the stress on families who want to create positive memories for their kids at this special time of year is enormous. Your support will help create positive holiday memories for these families during the holidays

You can make a difference in our community this Holiday Season by donating securely online through the Canada Helps website or by mailing or dropping off your donation at:

Fort York Food Bank
797 Dundas Street West
Toronto, Ontario
M6J 1V2

Coming Events

Holiday Open House and Volunteer Recognition Night

The annual Holiday Open House and Volunteer Recognition Night will be held on Wednesday, December 9 between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. at FYFB. The Open House is our special opportunity to thanks the hundreds of volunteers and donors who have helped FYFB help people in need in our community over the past decade. RSVP to events@FYFB.com. See you there!

» » Click here to view the Open House invitation.

» » View the photo gallery from last year's Holiday Open House here.

"You on the list?" Yup.

On November 19, FYFB was officially designated as a 'recommended' charity by Charity Intelligence in its new report "Homeless in Canada". FYFB is listed in the "prevention" category and is listed along with five other food banks from across Canada, including our wonderful partner, Second Harvest. We're pretty impressed by the company we're keeping. Being listed with Ci is a big deal, according to board member Douglas Anweiler, who was on hand for the announcement.

"These [Charity Intelligence] people are amazing - they've taken our work, spent hundreds of hours analyzing it and have recognized what I've been saying for years- FYFB has a huge impact on our community."

Ci estimates FYFB's charity value to be $1,123,681, taking into account the revenue from donations ($110,476), value of volunteer time ($280,950) and donated goods and services ($732,255). With that FYFB distributes more than 18,000 hampers in a year; serves more than 39,000 plates of food from our tiny kitchen; and, performs more than 2,200 counselling cases.

» » Charity Intelligence full report click here

» » Click here to download the FYFB Charity Intelligence summary (*.pdf format)

Metro Morning

CBC's Metro Morning is the number one morning show in Toronto and we were pleased to be featured on the show on Monday, November 23 to talk about how our organization is run. And yes, they do mention the prestige associated with being listed as a Ci recommended charity! Thanks to Andy Barrie and Mary Wiens for asking us to be on the big show; we couldn't be more proud.

» » Click here for audio broadcast.

Give the Gift of FYFB

FYFB is the perfect gift for family, friends, clients and colleagues this Holiday Season. You can donate securely online and send a virtual holiday greeting card sharing the news that you've made a holiday gift to FYFB on their behalf.

You can make a difference in a person's life this Holiday Season by clicking here for the gift that gives back.

Tis the Season to Visit the Food Bank

At this time of the year, our thoughts turn to helping those who are less fortunate and many organizations, in addition to making generous financial contributions, also send teams to volunteer at FYFB. They help in the kitchen, they prepare hampers, they sort food and, best of all, they show our clients and year-round volunteers that FYFB really is part of the community. We love that and want to thank them.

In our January issue we'll have a photo gallery of all the wonderful organizations who are helping to make this a special holiday season for people in need in downtown Toronto.

Ways to Get Involved at FYFB

Do you know someone who'd be interested in the great work FYFB does? Tell them about us by clicking here.