Almost 25 years of feeding those in need. INA ANDRE AND JOAN CLAYTON, two Toronto women, founded Second Harvest in 1985 as a way to address the growing problem of hunger in Toronto. All they had was a hatchback and a vision - that nobody in our community need ever go hungry.
From these humble beginnings, collecting and delivering unused fresh food from the city's restaurants and small grocery stores to shelters across the city, Second Harvest has grown to provide enough fresh and frozen foods for over 15,000 meals every day.
Unlike a food bank, we deal primarily with fruits, vegetables, dairy products, frozen foods and meats. We collect this perishable food that would otherwise go to waste and distribute it to approximately 250 social service programs in the Metro Toronto area.
Each morning seven refrigerated trucks leave our Downsview warehouse and head to the four corners of the city, picking up high-quality, perishable foods that would otherwise go to waste. Our food donors include grocery stores, food manufacturers and distributors.
Second Harvest drivers pick up this fresh food and transport it within hours to the
front lines of hunger - to community centres, shelters, breakfast programs and drop-in centres. These social service agencies provide food to children in need, seniors on fixed incomes, women fleeing domestic abuse, homeless people, psychiatric patients and thousands of other who have fallen on hard times.
Second Harvest is a registered, not-for-profit charity that relies on donations from foundations, corporations and people like you. We don't receive ongoing funding from the government or United Way. And though we maintain a small, efficient paid staff that manages our daily operations, Second Harvest is led by a volunteer Board of Directors and supported by hundreds of dedicated volunteers. |
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