Daily Bread Food Bank

About Daily Bread Food Bank:

Founded in 1983, Daily Bread Food Bank is now one of Canada’s largest food banks. Daily Bread works with its partners to provide food and assistance to people struggling with hunger in the Toronto area. In F2018, Daily Bread supplied and distributed food to support 173 food programs in the Greater Toronto Area. These programs are run by 135 partner organizations, including shelters, meal programs, and other food banks. In F2018, Daily Bread’s partner organizations saw 754,565 food bank visits. This year, Daily Bread introduced a four-week advance ordering system that tells partners what food will be made for more efficient meal distribution. 

Daily Bread Food Bank’s Training & Development Centre conducts courses and certifications to allow its partners to better serve their clients. In F2018, 386 staff from partner organizations took courses. This year, its new Information and Referral (I&R) Demystified course taught partners how to expand their activities beyond food and connect clients with housing, employment, and health services. The charity’s Youth Education Program also works to engage and educate youth about the issues surrounding hunger and poverty. 

Daily Bread Food Bank’s research and advocacy division explores hunger and poverty in Toronto and advocates for policy change. Daily Bread is a member of the Toronto Food Policy Council and the Toronto Employment and Social Services advisory committee. In 2018, Daily Bread Food Bank hosted the Affordable Housing Town Hall meeting with MP James Maloney. Its annual Who’s Hungry report describes current statistics on the people and areas most affected by hunger, the causes of hunger, and solutions to hunger in the GTA. The report used data collected in one-on-one interviews with over 1,400 food bank clients at 33 partner organizations. Its data have been referenced in the media, government, and non-profit sector. 

Results and Impact:

In F2018, Daily Bread’s kitchen supplied 89,330 meals and 170,800 servings of soup to food programs and shelters in the GTA. Daily Bread Food Bank’s Farm to Food Bank program diverted 1.34m pounds of produce from 14 Ontario farms away from landfills to be distributed to local food banks. Charity Intelligence gave Daily Bread an impact rating of Good for proven impact per dollar (see impact grid on the bottom right).  

Financial Review:

Daily Bread Food Bank is a large charity, receiving $8.9m in monetary donations of in F2018. It also received food donations valued at $20.9m ($2.60 per pound), an increase from $18m ($2.50 per pound) in F2017. Daily Bread’s administrative costs are 3% of revenues (excluding investment income) and fundraising costs are 22% of donations. For every dollar donated to the charity, 73 cents go to its programs, which is within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending. The charity has total funding reserves of $4.6m. Excluding the cost of donated food, Daily Bread’s funding reserves can cover program costs for nine months. 

This charity report is an update that has been sent to Daily Bread Food Bank for review. Comments and edits may be forthcoming. 

Updated on May 16, 2019 by Caroline McKenna.