$2.4 million raised by biggest food bank in Mississauga far exceeds target

With the number of people who need help putting food on the table in Mississauga growing rapidly, the city’s largest food bank picked a good time to significantly exceed the goal of its 2023 Holiday Drive.

Food Banks Mississauga officials said in a news release today that the organization’s most recent Christmas season drive raised $2,418,493, surpassing its $2 million goal by just over 21 per cent.

The annual fundraising campaign ran from Nov. 13 through Jan. 8 and was sponsored by the Nissan Canada Foundation.

“Thank you to each and every one of our community members who donated funds, food, time or their platforms. Every action you take helps neighbours facing food insecurity in Mississauga,” said FBM CEO Meghan Nicholls. “While I’m grateful for all that we have achieved together this Holiday Drive, the need for food is not slowing down. From June to December, we served 37,859 food bank users, which is almost a 40 per cent increase from the same time (in 2022).

“We used to have ‘busy’ seasons, but that is no longer the case and every month we redefine our version of ‘busy.’ As we look ahead and prepare for even more folks to turn to us and our network of over 60 agency members, I am grateful to supporters who stood by our side and continue to do so as we push forward together.”

Food Banks Mississauga CEO Meghan Nicholls, here addressing city council in October, says the agency predicts it will see 58,000 users by the end of May.

FBM officials note that, moving forward, the need will grow so much in the short term that by the end of May, some 58,000 people will be using Food Banks Mississauga, which heads up a network of more than 60 agencies across Canada’s seventh-largest city.

That’s about eight per cent of Mississauga’s population, they add, and represents a 25 per cent increase compared to projections from seven months ago.

This past December, FBM saw 16,071 food bank users across the city, up 25 per cent from one year earlier.

“Every month is an increase from the prior year, and while the funds and food raised during the Holiday Drive will help to meet the immediate need, your neighbours living with food insecurity will need your support as 2024 progresses,” officials said.

In December, FBM noted that its network had seen more food bank users since June than it did in all of 2022.

FBM’s latest Annual Impact Report, released in October, showed the organization is providing meals for 82 per cent more people today than it did prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

It also revealed that from June 2022 through last May, FBM served 18 per cent more people than the previous year.

The bottom line, says Nicholls, is that the need is more rapidly growing than ever before, in Mississauga and other communities across both Ontario and Canada.