Annual Report for the year ending September 30, 2006
How do we characterize the year? In looking back, it
was a turbulent year of continuing to provide service
at current levels, distributing approximately 350,000
pounds of food with a retail value of $700,000, while
building a strong foundation to support future growth.
Carson, who has 13 years’ experience as a
professional fundraiser, we developed a fund raising
plan, and brought together a small group of Board
members to carry it out. The early returns have been
very promising, diversifying our funder base. We are
gathering a head of steam.
One part of the foundation which needed to be put in
place was a sound and focused business plan. With
the help of Henneke Cats, from the Bridge Consulting
Group, and a grant from the United Way of Oakville,
we developed an ambitious 18-month business plan.
Its main purpose was to focus us on the critical few
things that needed to de done, given the modest
resources at our disposal. We revised our mission
statement, which now is:
“To help those persons in Halton Region
who live in poverty, by providing them
with a variety of nutritious, perishable
foods on a regular basis and by
empowering food recipients in our
Outreach Programs to address other issues
affecting family health and well-being”
We undertook a major effort to obtain funds to sustain
current operations, and to enable us to grow
significantly. With the able leadership of Brennan
We took on a major new supplier, Cob’s Bakery in
Oakville, after a referral from our neighbouring food
recovery program, Second Harvest in Toronto. This
proved to be a major endeavour, for several reasons.
First of all Cob’s requires an evening pick-up, which
couldn’t be handled by our employee driver. Second,
the volume of baked goods is large and fluctuating.
(on some evenings, the retail value of baked goods
picked up has exceeded $1,000.) Third, we have to
bag the product ourselves, which requires latex gloves
and clear, food-grade bags in two sizes. (Marchese
Health Care donates gloves and PCL Plastics
Corporation provides bags at cost.)
Sharon
Richardson took on the job of recruiting, training and
scheduling volunteers for a seven-day a week pick-up.
She has done this very successfully, and our working
relationship with Cob’s continues to be very good.
In September, we invited representatives from all the
food banks in Halton Region to a meeting which was
hosted by the United Way of Oakville. At that
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Food for Life Canada Box 52121 Oakville ON L6J 7N5 www.foodforlife.ca 905 849 6039
Page 1
meeting, Adam Spence, Executive Director of the
Ontario Association of Food Banks, gave a
presentation on the new Provincial Food Distribution
System, which is being implemented in 2007 with
financial support from the Ontario Trillium
Foundation. The potential benefits for our connecting
to this new system appeared to be significant, and
work is underway on how the food banks and Food
for Life can collaborate with OAFB.
This
collaboration is receiving support and encouragement
from staff in the Health and Social Services
Department of the Regional Municipality of Halton.
sponsors for this event were Lockwood Chrysler, the
Oakville Civitan Club and Dundee Wealth
Management (Paul Foley).
With the expertise of Dave White of DRW
Productions Inc., and support from the Community
Foundation of Oakville and the Rotary Club of Upper
Oakville Centennial, we produced a promotional
DVD on Food For Life. It shows our daily operations
and contains testimonials from a variety of
community agencies and clients that we serve. The
DVD has already proved useful in our fundraising and
in recruiting volunteers.
At Christmastime, we received angel gift packs to
distribute. This was a promotion by Whole Foods
Market, one of our major food donors, whereby
customers purchased gift packs for only $10 and
placed them in our bin on the premises. We also
obtained Christmas turkeys for some of our clients, a
generous donation from Costco in Oakville.
With a grant from the United Way of Oakville, we are
improving our measurement of both outputs and
outcomes. Faculty at Ryerson University advised us
on a sampling frame for weighing and valuing
deliveries of food, to give us more accurate annual
output statistics. We have researched weigh scales to
find a portable one suitable for our application, and
will issue a purchase order shortly.
Nicola Jones, who has an extensive background in
media, especially television, has volunteered to help
us develop and implement a communications plan to
build public awareness and to support our search for
corporate partnerships that are mutually beneficial.
We are fortunate to have such an experienced person
helping us.
We acknowledge with thanks the tireless efforts of our
part-time Executive Director, David Batchelor, who
appears to work full-time on behalf of Food for Life.
Also, we thank Sebastian de Souza, our very
dedicated and competent staff member. The members
of our Board pull together as a team and contribute to
all our activities. A special thank you for exemplary
leadership to Karen Chuba, who stepped down as
Board Chairman after several years in this role.
In May we held our second annual car rally and it was
a very successful event , netting nearly $6,000. Major
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Food for Life Canada Box 52121 Oakville ON L6J 7N5 www.foodforlife.ca 905 849 6039
Page 2
In conclusion, we acknowledge the support of all our volunteers, our funders, our sponsors and all the
community agencies with which we work so closely. (These groups are listed below.) With the support of
these stakeholders, our Board and staff look forward to next year’s challenges and opportunities with renewed
confidence.
Respectfully submitted,
Blair G. Richardson
Board Chairperson
Food Donors:
Azores Supermarket
Cobs Bread
Food Path Food Bank
Oakville Italian Bakery
Real Canadian Superstore
UPS Supply Chain Logistics
Whole Foods Market
Berlio Café
Costco
Good Food Box
Radha Soami Society
Schaaf Foods
Voortmann’s Cookies
CJ’s in Bronte
Canadian Feed the Children
Dominion
Lorne Skuce Public School
Starbucks
Whole Circle Farm
Hatch Energy
Monetary and In-Kind Donors
BoardMatch
Burlington Community Foundation
Whole Foods Market
Lockwood Chrysler
Knights of Columbus
Rotary Club of Oakville West
United Way of Oakville
Toronto Stock Exchange
Marchese Health Care
Community Foundation of Oakville
Dundee Wealth Management – Paul Foley
Rotary Club of Upper Oakville Centennial
United Way of Greater Toronto
Ontario Trillium Foundation
PCL Plastics Corporation
Kerr Street Ministries
Oakville Civitan Club
TD Bank
Emma’s Back Porch
Anglican Church
Women at St. Jude’s
Board of Directors - September 2006
Blair Richardson
Kate Palmer
Norma Valentine
Paul Foley
John McKenzie
Laurie Ann Campbell
Barb Heal
Lilliana Popp
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Food for Life Canada Box 52121 Oakville ON L6J 7N5 www.foodforlife.ca 905 849 6039
Page 3
OAKVILLE - Outreach Programs
Oak Park Moms and Tots
Burloak Co-op (Our Community Cares)
Oakville Senior’s Residence
River Oaks Community Church
St. Hilda’s
BURLINGTON - Outreach Programs
Fassel Ave
Walker’s Line 1
Walker’s Line 2
Walker’s Line 3
Nelson Co-op Housing
Pinegrove
OAKVILLE – Agencies
Community Living
Community Youth Program
Fare Share Food Bank
Halton Family Services
Home Sweet Hope
Ian Anderson House
Kerr Street Ministries
Salvation Army – Grace House
Salvation Army – Lighthouse Mission
Salvation Army – Oakville Food Bank
S.E.N.E.C.A.
Support and Housing Halton
Transitions for Youth – Aberdeen House
Oakville Youth Development Centre
St. Jude’s Food Pantry
BURLINGTON - Agencies
Carey House
Compassion Society
Halton Womens’ Shelter
Partnership West Food Bank
Salvation Army – Burlington Food Bank
SAVIS
Shifra Home
Summit House
The Carpenter Hospice
Transitions for Youth – My Place
OTHER LOCATIONS
Food Path Food Bank - Mississauga
Halton Women’s Place - Milton
Hope Place / The House - Milton
The Compass - Mississauga
Good Shepherd Centres - Hamilton
Good Shepherd Notre Dame House – Hamilton
Martha's House - Hamilton
Mission Services - Hamilton
Salvation Army - Hamilton Kitchen
Wesley Mission - Hamilton
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Food for Life Canada Box 52121 Oakville ON L6J 7N5 www.foodforlife.ca 905 849 6039
Page 4