The Impacts of COVID-19: One Year Later

Since the COVID-19 crisis hit our city last year, the Daily Bread Food Bank team has led with the goal to ensure safe and uninterrupted food delivery to those experiencing food insecurity in Toronto.

As we approach the one year mark of a state of emergency being declared due to the pandemic, we are reflecting on the impact COVID-19 has had on our clients and member agencies.

Did you know…

• Three quarters of respondents surveyed during COVID-19 who had never accessed a food bank before reported that they began using food banks because of the pandemic. 
• At the height of the first wave of COVID-19, Daily Bread food banks saw a 200% increase in new clients.  
• In the past six months, Daily Bread member food banks have seen an average of 105,000 visits each month, a 51% increase compared to year prior. 
• This past year, Daily Bread increased food purchasing by over 135% to meet the needs of the community. (3,725,782 lbs purchased March 2020 to February 2021 vs 1,585,230 the previous year). 

Although we have faced many challenges along the way, our generous donors, dedicated volunteers, partners and supporters have come together in unprecedented ways to ensure that everyone’s right to food is realized in our communities. Here are a just a few highlights from this past year:

GlobalMedic stepping up to provide infrastructure for a field hospital tent to be set up outside of the Daily Bread warehouse, where food hampers could be distributed safely through conveyor belt to over 1,300 clients weekly.

Toronto Public Libraries opening up pop-up food banks in high-priority areas that were impacted by closures. In just two months, 300,000 lbs of food were distributed through these pop-ups and served over 18,000 individuals.

Opening a second temporary Daily Bread warehouse to store and manage distribution of 60,000 emergency food boxes.

Moving company AMJ Campbell offering their fleet to support our operations team and sweep fire stations and grocery stores across the city, collecting over 40,000 lbs of food in just a few days.

Setting up our first-ever food raising drive-thru event at the Daily Bread warehouse, where the community came together to raise over 25,000 lbs of food in a single day.

At Daily Bread, we believe that food is a human right. We will continue to work together to meet the immediate and ongoing needs of our communities by providing food relief, while advocating for long-term, systemic solutions to end poverty.

We hope you will continue to join us on the fight against hunger by advocating, volunteering or making a donation.

Thank you for your support!