The 415 Food Hub

About our Food Bank

In early 2021 the NeighbourLink staff and a small group of volunteers began meeting to start a food bank in the Toronto Community Housing complex in Willowdale. The food bank officially opened with our Thanksgiving Pop Up in October of 2021.

The recipients we serve have an average annual income of 14-17K for a family of 4. Cost of living in Toronto is extremely high and it is expected that food costs will increase by close to 1K for a family this year.

Our clients told us that they often only eat 50% of what they get from other food support programs because of their food preferences and many people told us they do not eat that many canned foods. Food banks usually give out primarily cans and carbs. Our food bank is different. Thanks to the generosity of the community we can provide fresh food including: vegetables, fruit, dairy, eggs and protein. We spend approximately $40-50 per family per month, but they get around $80-100 worth of food.

Our food distribution days are the fourth Friday of every month and on average we provide food to 120 families and 30 seniors which is approximately over 300 neighbours!

We have 3 goals for our food bank:

1. Build community through the establishment of the food bank. Many of our volunteers live in the community we serve.

2. Provide healthy food.

3. Give people the dignity of choice. We lean on the community for all our non-perishable food. We have a pantry room that is sorted by category and clients can shop the room and choose a number of items depending on their family size. All the financial donations we receive go to buy fresh food.

Our clients go home with so much food that they need help carrying it home!