“Nellie’s food program helps keep me off the street”
Every Tuesday at Nellie’s, between 60 and 80 families visit our office to pick up food from our food program. Molly* is always amongst that group. At 70 years old, Molly has experienced multiple challenges throughout her life, including poverty, homelessness, and a stay at Nellie’s shelter a decade ago. Today, she is housed but can only afford to pay her rent or buy food—not both.

“Coming to Nellie’s every week to pick up groceries means I can keep my apartment,” says Molly. “Nellie’s food program helps keep me off the street.”

In Canada, about four million people face some form of food insecurity. The pandemic has only increased that number, as many women and low-income earners have lost their jobs or seen their hours reduced. At Nellie’s food program, we help seniors living below the poverty line, single moms trying to make ends meet, and women with disabilities, who face economic and social exclusion. Like Molly, some lived at Nellie’s shelter, but others simply live in our community and come to us for help.

“No matter what has happened to some of our community programs because of the pandemic, we have not stopped our food program and we won’t stop it because we know how valuable it is,” says Ingrid Graham, Director of Development. “Food banks have seen such an increase in need this past year and if we had more food to give, we would increase the number of people we can help too.”

Every Tuesday morning, a truck rolls up outside our offices from Second Harvest to make its weekly delivery for our food program. The food rescue charity brings a variety of fresh, frozen and packaged foods. We never know exactly what we’ll get every week—hence we call our food program Supper Surprise. Some weeks we may get pasta, rice and an assortment of fresh vegetables. Other weeks it may be processed meats, fresh fruit and yogurts. Other weeks still, it may be peanut butter, milk, prepared salads and crackers. Some weeks we round out each food basket with stock from our own non-perishable food pantry to ensure a good mix of protein, canned and boxed goods and fruits and vegetables.

That pantry is kept stocked thanks to generous donors like you. And, it gets put to use throughout the week as well. From time to time, someone in the community will simply stop by and ask if we have any food to spare.

“This year, more than ever, we’ve asked people to donate non-perishable food so that we can keep that pantry stocked,” says Ingrid, adding that moms are often asking for cereal for their kids and foods they can pack for school lunches. “Anything that is quick and easy to make and that donors can buy relatively cheaply, makes such an impact.”

Another way to support our food program is with a monetary donation, which can be used to buy TTC tokens (yes tokens) for those who come to the food program.

“We are adamant that transportation should not be a barrier to food. To ensure that people can come to Nellie’s, we give each woman a token to get home and a token to come back next week,” says Ingrid.

To make a secure online donation, please visit our donation page. Or, you can make an even bigger impact by becoming a monthly donor. As a regular monthly supporter, your generosity provides critical and consistent funding towards our daily efforts to fight food insecurity in our community, as well as supports all of our other programs. Automatic monthly payments are easy to set up, convenient, and create a lasting impact on the lives of women and their children who need us.