Spring is right around the corner and Daily Bread is getting ready to launch our annual Spring Drive. During the Spring Drive Daily Bread will be opening its door to the public and asking for help sorting the food donations we receive.

There are two Public Food Sorting days for this year's Spring Drive: Saturday, April 3rd and Monday, April 5th. Book your spot by calling the main reception at 416-203-0050 during regular business hours. Spaces fill up quickly, so book as soon as possible.

There are two shifts available on each day. Choose either the morning shift from
9:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. or the afternoon shift from 12:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Groups are welcome!

Please note:
* Children under the age of 8 are not permitted to volunteer due to health and safety regulations.
* Children ages 8-14 require adult accompaniment (an adult over 18 years of age) and a waiver form signed by a parent or guardian. (1 adult per 3 children).
* Children ages 15-18 require a waiver form but do not require adult accompaniment.

Come out during our Spring Drive and lend a helping hand.

High School Student Volunteer Opportunities

Daily Bread Food Bank is opening its doors to high school student volunteers during March Break. From Monday, March 15th to Friday, March 19th, high school students (grades 9 to 12) are invited to come in during our regular business hours. Students will have the opportunity to participate in educational workshops and help sort food donations, while completing their required 40 hours of community service. ADVANCED SIGN UP IS MANDATORY. Click here to find out more and download your application and waiver form.

Spaces are limited and reservations will be on a first come first serve basis.

Our Holiday Drive was a big success thanks to you. We received so much food that we are in need of volunteers to help sort it all and send it out to people and families who are in need.

On Friday, January 22nd we are looking for 200 volunteers to come in for the day and help us sort. Advanced sign up is mandatory.

There are two shifts:

Morning shift 9:30a.m. to 12:30p.m.

Afternoon shift 1:30p.m. to 4:00p.m.

Or you can choose to volunteer for the whole day at 191 New Toronto Street.

To book or find out more please call our main reception 416-203-0050 and ask about our Public Sort.

With 2009 coming to an end shortly and the beginning of the New Year on the horizon the staff at Daily Bread wanted to take a moment to thank all the Hungry City participants. We want to commend each and every one of you for beginning to fight hunger in our communities and helping out those who were less fortunate. Each year we try to encourage you to learn more about poverty and hunger and assist in figuring out how you can empower yourself and those around you to promote social change and move to action. Check out our list of schools and youth organizations that made their mark in 2009.

Hungry City’s Annual Writing Challenge is another way you can get involved and take action. Our writing challenge encourages youth to think about poverty and hunger and how it impacts people every day, while coming up with creative solutions to impact change. This year’s theme is: What does hunger mean to you? At a time when people are taking stock of their lives, actions and the year that has passed we ask you to think about our creative writing challenge theme and put your thoughts down on paper. How should we continue to address these important issues? See what you come up with and send it our way!

Here are some thoughts and feelings expressed by Daily Bread Food Bank clients during our 2009 Survey.

• [Poverty and hunger mean] “I only eat one meal a day. Food costs being what they are, I don’t have enough for a proper diet. No fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, after rent I have to live on $116 per month.” - 2009 Survey respondent with a disability on OW (Ontario Works)

• [Poverty and hunger means] “not having enough money to have the children participate in a team with the sport they like most….” - 2009 survey respondent.

• [Poverty and hunger means] “deciding whether to pay rent or buy food for your kids.” – Survey respondent with 3 children

For more details on this year’s creative writing challenge visit our Hungry City Writing Challenge and download your application today. Submission deadline is March 31st, 2010.

We want to thank all the volunteers that are coming out this holiday season to help us sort out food donations. We count on the help of our volunteers especially during the holidays where we see an influx of our most needed food items. ALL volunteer shifts are now full for both days of the Public Food Sort. For those of you who were unable to book spots for our Holiday Public Sort we will have other Public Sorting Days coming up in April for our Spring Drive.

If you aren’t on Twitter, here’s one very good reason to join: the Sounds of the Season Twitter contest! All this week, (at random times) our friends over at the Ontario Association of Food Banks will be asking trivia questions or requesting RT’s. The first ten people to answer a trivia question (or the first ten people to RT when asked) will be entered into a draw to win fabulous tickets to see George Stroumboulopoulos on The Hour. There will be two sets of tickets to give away, and @OAFB will announce the lucky winners on Twitter this Friday.

@DailyBreadTO will also be twittering away – if you miss an @OAFB tweet, don’t worry – we’ll be reminding you all week and letting you know when you have a chance to win.

Thanks to @TorontoCBC for the tickets. Remember – come down to 250 Front Street West on December 4th to see some great musical guests, fantastic radio shows all while supporting a good cause – your local food bank.

On December 4th, CBC Radio One will again host Sounds of the Season – an all day musical extravaganza supporting local food banks across the GTA. Last year, Sounds of the Season helped raise around $300,000 for Daily Bread Food Bank – which goes a long, long way in helping us to continue fighting hunger in Toronto.

This year, starting at 5:30 a.m. (we’ll be there much earlier!) Metro Morning will begin broadcasting live from the Glenn Gould Studio in downtown Toronto. There will be some amazing musical guests throughout the day, including Hawksley Workman, Jully Black, Matt Dusk, K-OS, Toronto Mass Choir and Ohbijou. For a full schedule of shows and guests click here.

Please come down and join us – bid on the silent auction, or donate money and have your picture taken at the Sounds of the Season photo booth!

Non-perishable food donations are always welcome. Your donations are so important – please support your local food bank this holiday season. For the most up to date information on Sounds of the Season, follow @TorontoCBC or @DailyBreadTO on twitter. To donate to Daily Bread Food Bank through Sounds of the Season, you can call us at 416-203-0050 or you can make a donation right now online.

Daily Bread has a vision to end hunger in our communities. In order to achieve this, it is crucial for us to raise awareness of the issues that contribute to hunger and poverty. Each year Daily Bread Food Bank conducts research to help us gain a better understanding of these issues. We produce a Who’s Hungry report based on the research collected through our annual survey of food bank clients. These surveys help us gain an enhanced understanding of the root causes of hunger, help us inform and educate the pubic and ultimately improve the lives of people struggling with hunger.

In 2008 Daily Bread created the Who’s Hungry Youth Guide, which was created to help youth understand the issues and scope of poverty and hunger in the GTA. It’s important that we educate the youth in our communities about these issues. Young people are the future of our community and can create innovative solutions to promote change, but it all starts with education.

Our 2009 Who’s Hungry Youth Guide has just come out and we encourage each and every one of you to read through it.

Who's Hungry 2009 Youth Guide to Hunger in the GTA

If you have any questions please contact Rachel our Public Education Coordinator

With the help from the community we managed to raise over 633,000 lbs of food, beating the original goal of 500,000 lbs by 133,000 lbs. Although the financial donations matched what was raised in last year’s Fall Drive, they did not reach our much needed goal of $500,000 and remained low with approximately $324,000 raised.

Daily Bread’s member agencies continue to report an increase in client visits. Our Executive Director Gail Nyberg is concerned about being able to meet the growing needs of food bank clients. “It is great news that we surpassed our food goal especially considering the difficult year it has been. Food bank usage is up across the province and that is not good news for us,” said Nyberg. “I cannot stress enough the importance of financial donations to Daily Bread Food Bank. Those donations mean we can purchase food in greater amounts at a lower cost.” Financial donations also allow Daily Bread to ensure a consistent supply of the most needed items such as baby formula, or to purchase perishable items such as meat, dairy or fresh vegetables.

What can you or your school do to help out? How about a school-wide bake sale? Think creatively about what you and your classmates can do to help Daily Bread reach its goal and meet our financial donation for the upcoming year.

Here are a few creative ideas that may help you and your peers plan a fund drive at your school.
1. 50/50 Auction
2. Battle of the Bands or Benefit Concert
3. Car Wash
4. Dress Down Days
5. Fashion Show
6. Halloween Dance
7. Movie Screening
8. Message-O-Grams (Candy, flowers)
9. Sports Tournaments
10. Talent Show

BRING FOOD TO THE SHOW...

STOMP and Mirvish Productions are joining forces to help support Daily Bread Food Bank this week! Here's the deal: go see STOMP on October 23rd, 24th or 25th; bring along a non-perishable food item to drop into Daily Bread Food Bank's box in the lobby of the Canon Theatre. Mirvish Productions will knock $5.00 off the price of your ticket when you buy a ticket at the box-office.

The $5.00 deal is for box-office sales only... even if you book on the phone or online why not bring along a non-perishable food item as well? STOMP will thank you; Mirvish Productions with thank you and everyone at Daily Bread Food Bank will thank you.

STOMP, the international percussion sensation, is on stage at the Canon Theatre from October 20th - 25th, 2009 only.