The Seneca Student Federation (SSF) found itself in a position of having a large surplus for their 2021 fiscal year.
Since the SSF are a non-profit organization, they decided to share some of that extra funding with a community partner who helped their student members in times of need during the pandemic, the Food Bank of York Region (FBYR).
“When Mario from the Seneca Student Federation reached out to me to share the good news of the donation they were providing, we were elated,” shares Alex Bilotta, Founder and CEO of the Food Bank of York Region. “This monetary gift comes at a time of year where we don’t receive a lot of funding or donations of this type, and yet so many members of our community are still experiencing hunger.
“We’re very thankful that the SSF we’re thinking of us and are happy we made such a difference to the lives of many of their students.”
Before the pandemic, Seneca College King Campus had enrolled into the FBYR’s network as a student led food pantry partner. They received regular deliveries of perishable and non-perishable food items to help support their students experiencing food insecurity.
“The SSF partnered with the FBYR to provide our students with an on-campus food pantry for many years. They’ve helped our student members through troubled financial times before and during the pandemic,” shares Mario de Carlo, Executive Director, Seneca Student Foundation.
“So, we wanted to show our appreciation by making a $10,000 donation to their organization, and we hope it goes a long way in helping feed more people.”
The Food Bank of York Region is the regional food hub and mobile food pantry with a network of 75+ social service agencies and emergency home delivery programs. The network supports food programs in the nine municipalities of York Region, serving 24,000+ individuals in 7,000 households.
The COVID-19 pandemic increased the number of people accessing food bank programs in York Region by 42 per cent from 2018, expanding the threshold of food insecurity to a larger scale of members of our community.
For more information on the FBYR’s efforts to combat food insecurity in York Region, to donate or get involved, visit www.fbyr.ca.
Photo: Mario De Carlo, SSF Executive Director, and Dina Yeyha, SSF Vice-President, recently presented a $10,000 cheque to the Food Bank of York Region.
