The parking lots at U of T Scarborough have not seen much use in recent weeks, but last Saturday three of them were bustling.
In Parking Lots G and H on Military Trail, a line of vehicles driven by Scarborough residents facing food insecurity passed through carefully placed pylons and stopped briefly as masked volunteers placed weighty food care packages into their trunks.
In Parking Lot A next to Highland Hall, other volunteers drove up in their own vehicles to load packages and deliver them to more families in Scarborough.
The project, known as Feed the Six, is led by the charity Hand Up Toronto (HUT) in partnership with GlobalMedic, the international relief organization currently part of the CARES partnership in which volunteers in Highland Hall are repackaging food bought in bulk for distribution to food banks.
Was happy to lend a @handuptoronto today distributing food hampers with #FeedTheSix. Shout out to @globalmedicdmgf, @UTSC and @LiveGreenTO volunteers! #ScarbTOcares pic.twitter.com/nXfUx7jeXP
— Jennifer McKelvie (@McKelvieWard25) May 16, 2020
Melanie Blackman, Community Development Coordinator for U of T Scarborough, said hosting the Feed the Six project on campus was an example of community collaborations creating collective response and local impact. “Food insecurity has been a long-standing barrier for local residents in Scarborough and has been heightened during the pandemic,” she noted. “This is an opportunity for our University to live our values of intentional inclusion, reciprocity and accountable stewardship in support of local people.”
And there was considerable impact in the day’s activity. According to Raza Rafiq, Chair of the HUT board, at least 20,000 pounds of food was distributed on Saturday to 1,100 families. Volunteers placed 500 boxes in people’s vehicles and delivered 600 to people’s homes. Recipients were selected after registering on the HUT website, with input from the Toronto Children’s Aid Society and the Toronto District School Board from earlier breakfast programs.
Across Toronto, said Rafiq, “there are 25,000 families signed up to our list for support. We have a situation where every month families have to choose between paying rent or feeding their family.” In the immediate area around the campus, he said, there are some 4,000 families facing food insecurity.
The Feed the Six boxes included some of the 500-gram bags of rice, lentils, barley, chick peas, green peas and kidney beans that the CARES volunteers had packed for GlobalMedic. HUT added other non-perishable items such as canned corn, apple snacks and even chocolates for kids.
This weekend we partnered with @handuptoronto to launch our Feed the Six program to reach families who aren't able to access food banks. Please consider a donation at https://t.co/btGYD7SSbB to support programs like these. #InThisTogether #COVID19Ontario pic.twitter.com/K6ZciTl3QA
— GlobalMedic (@globalmedicdmgf) April 28, 2020
At Parking Lot H, U of T graduate Kevin Hoang (BA, 2011), a HUT director, talked about the charity’s beginnings as a small startup in 2014 with eight volunteers. It now boasts a core group of some 30 volunteers, many of them professionals like Hoang, a tech product manager, and including several other U of T grads. “It’s amazing to give back to the community, and finally to have it come back full circle with the university is very rewarding,” said Hoang.
People interested in volunteering to help package food can register here.