History

Food for Life has grown into the largest food recovery program in Halton Region bringing fresh and nutritious food to those in need.

Food for Life started from very modest beginnings in 1995 when an Oakville resident, George Bagaco, recognized how many people were in need of fresh, nutritious food. George would stop at a bakery on his way home from work and fill his trunk with baked goods. He distributed the surplus goods to needy families in his neighborhood. His program grew as he began to deliver to other neighbourhoods, with the support of the Rotary Clubs, which donated a vehicle, and Kerr Street Ministries, which provided warehouse space. Food for Life hired its first staff members: a driver for the delivery van, and a part-time Executive Director to help run the organization.

Food for Life Canada was officially incorporated in 2003 as a registered charitable organization. This date also marked the beginning of a period of tremendous growth. By this time, Food for Life had already established a number of partnerships with local social service agencies, to whom they would deliver food on a weekly basis. These agencies, who had previously had to purchase all their food, were able to focus more of their resources on their primary service. Food for Life continued to expand their network of partner agencies to over 30.

In 2006, Food for Life initiated a collaborative process with many of these agencies and other food banks in the Region to identify how to better work together to collect and deliver even more food throughout the Region. The end result was the creation of a new Food for Life program called ReFresh Foods, which was specifically focused on collecting large volumes of food from the corporate food sector (wholesalers, distributors, manufacturers). Through a generous donation from the Sprott Foundation, ReFresh Foods acquired its own pick-up and delivery vehicle – a hybrid truck, the first of its kind to be used by a charity in Canada.

With the rapid expansion of the volume of food being collected and the growth in the food recipient partners, Food for Life secured 6,000 square feet of warehouse space in Burlington to house the organization. This space enabled Food for Life to centralize all operations and receive shipments of food that no other food recovery program in Halton Region could accommodate.

Over the past three years, Food for Life has gone full circle – re-invigorating the outreach component of their service, just as it had started with George Bagaco 15 years before. Outreach programs, located throughout Halton Region, are hosted in a community based facility (church, community centre) and operated by a team of volunteers who organize the delivery of the food and the re-distribution to families in need.

In 2010/11, Food for Life Canada distributed over 1,000,000 pounds of food, all donated by our many generous suppliers. This food, which would have otherwise gone to waste in a landfill, has a retail value of over $4 million.

Our Objective

Every day we bring fresh nutritious food that might otherwise not be used from food producing organizations to hungry people in Halton to help them eat and live better.

Food for Life is a food recovery program. Every day, seven days a week, we collect surplus perishable food (baked goods, fruit and vegetables, prepared foods, dairy and meat) from grocery stores,restaurants and the corporate food sector in Halton region. Our emphasis is on fresh food that we can deliver quickly to those in need. We deliver this food, same day, to over 40 community social service organizations and over 36 outreach programs which we have established in low-income neighbourhoods in Oakville, Burlington, Milton, Acton and Georgetown. Food for Life assists in filling the gap between social assistance and living costs by providing nutritious perishable food to families on a weekly basis.

We supply this food at no cost to social service agencies and food banks across Halton on a weekly basis.

Download the brochure (PDF).

The People Involved

Board Governance Policies

Policy 1 - Mission and Values
Policy 2 - Role of the Board
Policy 3 - Individual Board Member Responsibilities
Policy 4 - Board Composition
Policy 5 - Donor Recognition
Policy 6 - Fundraising
Policy 7 - Receipt Policy for Agricultural Producers
Policy 8 - Risk Management
Policy 9 - Food Quality and Safety Standards
Policy 10 - Outreach Programs
Policy 11 - Executive Committee
Policy 12 - Fund Development Committee
Policy 13 - Governance Nominating Committee
Policy 14 - Board Chair Position Description
Policy 15 - Treasurer Position
Policy 16 - Complaints Policy