Lunch Money Day support keeps going...

Recently at work, we had an event called the 'Second Harvest Lunch Money Day Drive', where we were asked to donate the money we would have spent on our lunches to Second Harvest. At a subsequent social event to thank the donors, I had the chance to speak with the Second Harvest staff and learned about the possibility of volunteering as a Driver's Assistant, which I did on 1 May 2008.

Lunch Money Day raised $354,000 in 2007. Only 18% of this total went to administrative costs. Second Harvest considers that a donation of $5 is enough to help them provide food for 10 meals.

Here are a few photos from my day as a Driver's Assistant :http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=24890&l=a6c5c&id=511527842

The Second Harvest driver, Ian, had the truck loaded with such items as skids of Orville Redenbacher Popcorn, whole organic milk, sausages, hotdogs, prepared meats, juices, red tea in teabags and trays of prepared food. During our travels we picked up vegetables and fruits from the Whole Foods Market on Avenue Road and the Centre for Opportunities, Respect and Empowerment (CORE), a 'Harvest Kitchen' run by Second Harvest, where people with mental disabilities are trained in food preparation skills and the prepared food delivered to other social service programs where kitchen facilities do not exist.

We delivered food to one public school breakfast program, one high school lunch program, a hostel catering to refugees, the Native Canadian Centre, one Kiwanis after school program, two youth centres, one homeless drop-in centre where meals are offered and the Fort York Food Bank, which serves as both a food bank and a drop-in meal centre.

Two things struck me about what I saw in my travels. First, there is a whole network of social service delivery which operates completely out of sight - both the services and the clientele are out of sight. CORE, a huge centre offering day programs to people with multiple mental challenges in addition to the teaching kitchen, is tucked away on a quiet street in the Spadina - King area. I have passed the Fort York Food Bank on Dundas Street West perhaps 100 times on foot without realizing that it was a food bank. Whatever poverty we see evidence of on the streets of Toronto in our everyday lives, it is truly the tip of the iceberg.

Second, those who were in receipt of the food were both very much in need and infinitely grateful for the help.

The food that Second Harvest collects and distributes would otherwise be wasted and for the most part end up in landfills. Instead, Second Harvest distributes it to people in need.

I believe very strongly in this charity and hope you will support it by volunteering, by encouraging the donation of food when the opportunity arises, and by donating your money to help their operations. You can donate directly here: http://www.canadahelps.org/CharityProfilePage.aspx?CharityID=s45385

Unfortunately, this year Second Harvest is $20,000 short of its Lunch Money Day fundraising target. Please help fill the gap so that Second Harvest may continue to help those in need with an approach that is compassionate, ecological and economical.

Dean Rivando
Senior Database Administrator, Liberal Caucus Service Bureau

Students Sort Food for Second Harvest

A special thank you and your staff for the great experience yesterday volunteering at your organization. Your staff were patient and very encouraging with the students. The sorting, packing and weighing of food, making of boxes,... were valuable teamwork exercises for the students. I think they learned a lot from this volunteer opportunity. Afterwards the students felt very positive / great about themselves and the hard work that they did.

We thoroughly enjoyed it!

I would like to bring some of the same and / or other students next semester and next year, to volunteer at Second Harvest again.

The confirmation letters you sent out will be something students can show their family members and then put into their portfolios for keeping track of their community hours.

I hope your expansion to make your location larger goes smoothly without too much stress for you and your staff.

Again, thank you and your staff for this great experience!

Joan Bird
Teacher at Central Etobicoke High School

The Best Day at Work

As an event staffer for Second Harvest, I am often bound to my computer and phone, or engaged in meetings with colleagues, sponsors, suppliers or committee volunteers, or in production at the event venue. I enjoy my work and the people I connect with to achieve my work goals, but it can be easy to get lost in the work itself and focus on getting my piece of the puzzle done.

The best remedy for this tunnel vision has always been to spend a day on a truck with one of our drivers. The title of “Driver” is deceptive: their role extends far beyond driving the trucks and moving food from one place to another. They embody the spirit and mandate of Second Harvest and it’s evident in the way they provide excellent customer service to our food donors, the way they are finely attuned to each agency’s particular needs, and the way they help out the office staff by picking up a money collection or a donated Auction prize while out on their routes. Each of them is a great ambassador for our mission, vision, and organizational culture of inclusion, acceptance and helping.

I had a tiny taste of their experience the Friday before Christmas and it was a day I will not soon forget. I was scheduled to go out on a truck, but our dispatcher Sam had something different in mind: when I arrived I was handed my own route sheet and told that I would be driving our little panel van around town, picking up a number of food-drive collections from companies, small offices and schools. My colleague Abby joined me, and seven hours later we had picked up about 10,000 pounds of food that would be sorted back at our warehouse, to be delivered to agencies the next morning.

It is difficult to pin down the most rewarding part of that day: was it meeting donors who were thrilled to donate food to us? Or knowing that this food would be getting to our agencies in time for Christmas? Or hoping that in doing this little route for just one day, I had helped our drivers even a fraction as much as they help thousands of hungry people every day?

Jennifer Verschraegen, Manager of Special Events and Sponsorship

Another Voice of Support

Hi Wendy,

I had a wonderful day on the truck with Blaine. It was very rewarding and eye opening. You don't always realize the depth and breadth of need for food in Toronto, but the 6 stops we made that day helped me gain a better understanding of the types of agencies and groups and individuals that Second Harvest is helping. While I enjoyed the day, it also made me realize how fortunate I am and have been. I think everyone should do this at least once.

I intend to do it again in the coming year - more than once. I will be in touch when I have some dates determined. I'd like to do a couple of weekdays to be able to see the agencies in the downtown core that Second Harvest supports.

I’m not sure if I can do this over email, but I'd also like to increase my monthly donation. I can see that it takes a huge amount of funding just to keep the trucks fuelled and running smoothly. We were in one of the new trucks - what a generous, worthwhile donation. (No problems getting up and down at the back.)

Thank you for the opportunity to volunteer with Second Harvest. I'll be back!

Kind Regards,

Janice Baker

Words From a Volunteer

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to volunteer as an assistant to a Second Harvest driver. The experience demonstrated to me the very real benefit that Second Harvest provides to communities in need in the Toronto area. Growing up in the suburbs and living in Etobicoke, I have not been exposed to the economic diversity in Toronto. To ride the Second Harvest truck was an eye-opener for me. It helped me realize the need for food distribution programs like Second Harvest and other practical charities that support the Toronto community.

I would describe the experience as "fantastic”. I enjoyed meeting the people from the different community centers. They were all very grateful for the food donations. In some cases, such as the community in Jamestown, it seemed like a community event to take food from the truck into the center. I also met the wonderful folks at Howard Park church. They volunteer their time to prepare food provided by Second Harvest to meet the needs of the community.

Part of the day also included a pick up from the Loblaws located at Dundas and Jane. The Loblaws staff had the meat ready for Second Harvest prior to the pick up. From my brief interaction with these Loblaws staff members, I could tell that they recognize the benefit that Second Harvest provides to the community and they were happy to help out.

The day could not have taken place without Grant, a Second Harvest driver. Grant was most professional and demonstrated this professionalism in all aspects of his job. He is an excellent and careful driver. Furthermore, he interacted with the front line staff and volunteers in a very respectful and professional manner. It seems to me that Grant really enjoys his job representing Second Harvest by picking up and delivering food in the Toronto area. Grant made the experience an enjoyable one.

I know I will continue to think about the experience for some time. Thanks again for the opportunity to volunteer.

Warm Regards,

James Willis

Lunch Money Day

On February 23rd hundreds of workplaces and schools organized Lunch Money Day drives to help raise money for Second Harvest. A warm thank you to everyone who donated money or volunteered their time to make Lunch Money Day such a success. Here are a few stories from the day:

Summerlee Office Solutions
We held a Potluck Lunch. Everyone signed up in advance to bring in a particular (home-made) dish in support of the pot luck lunch. One staff member was in at 7:00 AM with her roast and slow-cooker to make Pulled Pork Sandwiches. People were encouraged to either make a donation or purchase raffle tickets. The lunch was ahuge success. We all ahd very full stomachs by the time the lunch was over, which helped remind us of why we were there.

Bell, Temple
We actually celebrate a "Second Harvest" week. Each day we have a fundraising campaign. Bell, Temple donated gift cards to be used as prizes. One day we will play Bingo - selling bingo cards. Another day a raffle for the gift card prize. Anotehr day we create a game and sell game cards. Another day we will draw for Leaf/Raptors tickets taht hve been donated. Also, the firm allows us to raffle a "Get out of jail free" day. This is basically an extra day vacatino to whomever wins. Tickets are sold at $2 each or 3 for $5. We usually raise over $200 on this one raffle!

Rogers
This year, we continued with our traditional canvassing, raffle ticket sales, and lunchtime events, but we wanted to try something new to spice up our campaign. We decided to put together a cookbook. It turned into a wonderful compilation of recipes from 150 employee submissions. Our initial small print run sold out in less than half an hour and one volunteer had to run back and forth between the sales tables and printing house. We ended up selling more than 300 books.

Maple Leaf Foods
We tried a new idea this year - a lunch buffet. The meat and bread products were donated internally. Employees in our office paid $5 and made their own sandwich at the buffet. We had abuot 75% participation from the employees

Conway Davis Gryski LLP
Everyone at our firm contributes what they can to the 'pot'. We use the money collected to buy lunch for everyone and then the firm doubles the amount adn sends it as a donation to Lunch Money Day. In addition to supporting a great cause, Lunch Money Day provides our small but very busy firm a chance to sit down together, socialize, and talk about issues not related to work.

Starbucks Lunch

I’d to give a big thank you to Sam and all the Starbucks employees at the 110 Bloor West location near Avenue Road. Their assistance and enthusiasm really helped make our Lunch Money Day collection drive a success. Our table was strategically placed near the line-up so patrons had to at least hear what the two people wearing chef hats had to say about supporting Second Harvest. It also helped that we gave away hors d’oevres sized sample sandwiches which hopefully stimulated some sandwich sales for Starbucks.By the way, I personally recommend the Madagascar Chicken.

Subway Lunch Money

I arrived at Sheppard subway station at 6:15 in the morning to put up some posters and set up the Lunch Money Day drive. I couldn’t believe how many commuters were up at that hour. Kudos to the work ethic of the early risers and kudos to all the commuters who stopped their rush to work and donated some money to Second Harvest’s Lunch Money Day campaign. We received $19,082.86 from TTC riders!