Sign the Pledge!

For every unique pledge Investors Group will donate $1 to Food Banks Canada to a maximum of $25,000.

It may surprise you to know that 851,000 of your fellow Canadians use food banks every month.

In this great country of ours, food is abundant. So nobody should be passed over.

If you agree that hunger in Canada is unacceptable, sign the pledge and support Food Banks Canada as we;

develop strategies to combat the root causes of hunger
influence policies that affect people living in poverty
make recommendations to governments that will effect social change

YES, I’m pledging to Say No To Hunger!

First Name		*
Last Name		*
Street Address		*
City		*
Postal Code	*
Phone Number
Email Address		*

Stay informed! Opt-in to receive communications from Food Banks Canada. We respect your privacy. Your information will not be shared with anyone else and will not be disclosed to any government agencies.

Root causes
of hunger.Beyond the
empty plate. Hunger in Canada.By the
numbers. Food for
thought.Achievements,
so far. Hungry
for answers?Take
the Quiz!

Sign the Pledge!

For every unique pledge Investors Group will donate $1 to Food Banks Canada to a maximum of $25,000.

It may surprise you to know that 851,000 of your fellow Canadians use food banks every month.

In this great country of ours, food is abundant. So nobody should be passed over.

If you agree that hunger in Canada is unacceptable, sign the pledge and support Food Banks Canada as we;

develop strategies to combat the root causes of hunger
influence policies that affect people living in poverty
make recommendations to governments that will effect social change

YES, I’m pledging to Say No To Hunger!

First Name		*
Last Name		*
Street Address		*
City		*
Postal Code	*
Phone Number
Email Address		*

Root causes
of hunger.Beyond the
empty plate. Hunger in Canada.By the
numbers. Food for
thought.Achievements,
so far. Hungry
for answers?Take
the Quiz!

Privacy Policy

Our Commitment

Food Banks Canada is committed to protecting the privacy and the personal information of its members, donors, employees, other stakeholders and users of our Web site. Food Banks Canada values the trust of those we deal with, and of the public, and recognizes that maintaining this trust requires that we be transparent and accountable in how we treat the personal information that you may choose to share with us.

Defining Personal Information

Personal information is any information that can be used to distinguish, identify or contact a specific individual. This information can include an individual's opinions or beliefs, as well as facts about, or related to, the individual (e.g. name, address, phone number and e-mail address), but does not include the name, title or business address or telephone number of an employee of an organization.

Privacy Practices and Protection of Information

Personal information gathered by Food Banks Canada is kept in confidence and in accordance with the federal Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (“PIPEDA”). PIPEDA sets out the following Ten Privacy Principles:

Principle 1 — Accountability

An organization is responsible for personal information under its control and shall designate an individual or individuals who are accountable for the organization’s compliance with the following principles.

Principle 2 — Identifying Purposes

The purposes for which personal information is collected shall be identified by the organization at or before the time the information is collected.

Principle 3 — Consent

The knowledge and consent of the individual are required for the collection, use, or disclosure of personal information, except where inappropriate.

Principle 4 — Limiting Collection

The collection of personal information shall be limited to that which is necessary for the purposes identified by the organization. Information shall be collected by fair and lawful means.

Principle 5 — Limiting Use, Disclosure, and Retention

Personal information shall not be used or disclosed for purposes other than those for which it was collected, except with the consent of the individual or as required by law. Personal information shall be retained only as long as necessary for the fulfillment of those purposes.

Principle 6 — Accuracy

Personal information shall be as accurate, complete, and up-to-date as is necessary for the purposes for which it is to be used.

Principle 7 — Safeguards

Personal information shall be protected by security safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the information.

Principle 8 — Openness

An organization shall make readily available to individuals specific information about its policies and practices relating to the management of personal information.

Principle 9 — Individual Access

Upon request, an individual shall be informed of the existence, use, and disclosure of his or her personal information and shall be given access to that information. An individual shall be able to challenge the accuracy and completeness of the information and have it amended as appropriate.

Principle 10 — Challenging Compliance

An individual shall be able to address a challenge concerning compliance with the above principles to the designated individual or individuals accountable for the organization’s compliance.

How Personal Information is Collected

Our electronic donation service requires that cardholders provide contact information (including without limitation: name, address, city, state or province/territory, postal code, country, telephone and email), and financial information (including without limitation: name on credit card, credit card number and expiry date), and ordering information. This information is collected and used to process the transaction, for internal accounting and for Food Banks Canada’s donor recognition purposes.

In addition, we may collect personal information from you when you voluntarily provide it to us through a number of features available on our Web site.

How Personal Information is Used and Disclosed

Except as described below, we do not sell, transfer or otherwise disclose to third parties the personal information we collect.

Food Banks Canada staff is authorized to access personal information based only on their need to deal with the information for the reason(s) for which it was obtained. Safeguards are in place to ensure that the information is not disclosed or shared more widely than is necessary to achieve the purpose for which it was gathered. We also take measures to ensure the integrity of this information is maintained and to prevent its being lost or destroyed.

Certain information submitted through electronic donation is shared with other parties necessary to complete credit card transactions, including, without limitation, credit card companies, credit card clearing houses and processors, and financial institutions. The parties mentioned in the above sentence are responsible for their own privacy policies and for maintaining privacy and confidentiality for all information provided to them. If a user has any questions or concerns about the privacy policies of those parties, it must contact such parties.

Food Banks Canada may also provide to third parties aggregate or statistical information that does not disclose personally identifiable information. Food Banks Canada does not trade, share or sell mailing lists or donor information.

In addition, we may provide your personal information to third parties who provide services on our behalf. These entities may use the information solely in conjunction with the specific services they provide for us. We also reserve the right to transfer any personal information we have about you in the event that we sell or transfer all or a portion of our assets to a third party. Further, we reserve the right to disclose any personal information as needed if such information is requested by law enforcement agencies or if we are requested to do so by law, regulation, court order, or by a government entity. We may also disclose your personal information to third parties if we have reason to believe that disclosing such information is necessary to: (i) conduct investigations of possible breaches of law; (ii) cooperate in any legal investigation; (iii) identify, contact, or bring legal action against someone who may be violating the Terms of Use of our Web site; or (iv) to protect our rights, privacy, safety or property. Lastly, we may disclose your personal information for any other purpose to which you consent.

Information Automatically Collected

Our Web site keeps track of usage data, such as the source address that a page request is coming from, your IP address or domain name, the date and time of the page request, the referring Web site (if any) and other parameters in the URL. The IP addresses we collect on our electronic purchase service are linked to personally identifiable information. This is collected in order to combat fraud during the purchase process. We also use this data to better understand Web site usage in the aggregate so that we know what areas of our Web site users prefer. Automatically collected information is also used for the same purposes as cardholder supplied and merchant supplied information.

Sometimes we may use cookie technology, web beacons and other similar devices on our Web site to enhance functionality and navigation for our visitors. Information tracked through these mechanisms includes, but is not limited to: (i) your IP address; (ii) the type of web browser and operating system being used; (iii) the pages of the Web site a user visits; and (iv) other Web sites a user visited before visiting this website. If you wish to disable cookies, refer to your browser help menu to learn how to disable cookies. Please note that if you disable cookies, you may be unable to access some customized features on our Web site. Cookies do not collect or contain your personal information.

Security

Food Banks Canada uses advanced security to help protect your personal information; you can verify our information by clicking on the GeoTrust Site Seal. Our electronic donation service is secured with SSL encryption. All information collected is secured via SSL encryption, and protected by a firewall. Whenever sensitive information is transmitted, such as a credit card number, our server provides 128-bit encryption of the information as it travels across the Internet. Food Banks Canada restricts internal access to personal information to selected members of Food Banks Canada’s employees. Unfortunately, no data transmission over the internet can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. As a result, while we are committed to protecting your personal information, we cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information you provide to us.

Some or all of the personal information we collect may be stored or processed on servers located outside your jurisdiction of residence, whose data protection laws may differ from the jurisdiction in which you live. As a result, this information may be subject to access requests from governments, courts, or law enforcement in those jurisdictions according to laws in those jurisdictions. Subject to applicable laws in such other jurisdictions, we will use reasonable efforts to ensure that appropriate protections are in place to require the data processor in that country to maintain protections on the personal information that are equivalent to those that apply in the country in which you live.

Children’s Privacy

Food Banks Canada is committed to protecting the privacy of children and we do not knowingly solicit personal information from children. If a child has already provided us with personal information, his or her parent or guardian may contact us for the purpose of deleting this information.

Updating of Privacy Policy

We regularly review our privacy practices for our various activities, and update our policy. Please check this website on an on-going basis for information on our most up-to-date practices. We will indicate at the bottom of this page the date this privacy policy was last revised. Your continued access or use of this Web site after any such changes constitutes your acceptance of the privacy policy as revised.

Links to Other Websites

This Web site may contain links to other Web sites that are independently owned and operated by third parties. These links are provided to you as a convenience only. These other Web sites may have their own privacy policies and are not governed by this privacy policy. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of any Web site(s) owned and operated by any such third parties. Other Web sites may collect and treat information collected differently, so we encourage you to carefully read and review the privacy policy for each Web site you visit.

Contact Info

Questions, concerns or complaints relating to the Food Bank Canada’s privacy policy on the treatment of personal information should be e-mailed to Marzena Gersho at marzena@foodbankscanada.ca or 303-2968 Dundas St W, Toronto, ON, M8X 1A3.

Further information on privacy and your rights in regard to your personal information may be found on the website of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.

Food Banks Canada Charitable Registration Number: 13064 3737 RR0001

DONATE to Say No to Hunger!

You can help Food Banks Canada eliminate hunger. But we can’t do it alone and we can’t do it without your generosity. Find out how your pledge and/or donation will help eliminate hunger.

Please donate $XX, $XXX or whatever you can. Your donation will be matched by (corporation X) to a maximum of $25,000.

[Donation Form] [ ] YES, I’m saying no to hunger by making a donation to Food Banks Canada!

Thank you for your generous donation.

With your generous gift, together, we can eliminate hunger. Please ask your friends and loved ones to Say NO to Hunger, too.

And if you haven’t already, you can also sign the pledge and Say NO to Hunger.

Thanks again for your support.

About Food Banks Canada

Food Banks Canada is the national charitable organization representing and supporting the food bank community across Canada. Our Members and their respective agencies serve approximately 85% of people accessing food banks and food programs nationwide. Our mission is to help food banks meet the short-term need for food, and to find long-term solutions to hunger. Please visit www.foodbankscanada.ca for more information.

You can set a different course for Canadians.

Unfortunately, our fellow Canadians will continue to suffer until we all say no to hunger. With your support, Food Banks Canada can continue to address the effects of the root causes of hunger in these and many other ways:

Invest in affordable housing.

Too many low-income Canadians are forced to choose between paying the rent and feeding their families. With your support, we can advocate for increased investments in affordable housing that will leave families with more money to buy wholesome food and other necessities.

Invest in early learning and childcare.

The facts are impressive. Every $1 invested in early childhood learning and care will boost the economy in the long run by $2.40. How? By supporting parents who enter or remain in the workforce – thereby increasing their income or upgrading their education and skills. Early learning also decreases school dropout rates among children and youth and improves post-secondary educational participation. In short, it makes good sense to invest in early learning and childcare.

Maintain a strong Canada Social Transfer.

Providing $11.5 billion to the provinces in 2011–12, the Canada Social Transfer (CST) is meant to support post-secondary education, social assistance, social services, early childhood development, early learning and childcare. In other words, CST is an overall investment in the health and well-being of Canadians. With your support, we can help ensure this issue is on the front burner of the federal government.

Who's being passed over?

Sign the Pledge!

For every unique pledge Investors Group will donate $1 to Food Banks Canada to a maximum of $25,000.

It may surprise you to know that 851,000 of your fellow Canadians use food banks every month.

In this great country of ours, food is abundant. So nobody should be passed over.

If you agree that hunger in Canada is unacceptable, sign the pledge and support Food Banks Canada as we;

develop strategies to combat the root causes of hunger
influence policies that affect people living in poverty
make recommendations to governments that will effect social change

YES, I’m pledging to Say No To Hunger!

First Name		*
Last Name		*
Street Address		*
City		*
Postal Code	*
Phone Number
Email Address		*

Root causes
of hunger.Beyond the
empty plate. Hunger in Canada.By the
numbers. Food for
thought.Achievements,
so far. Hungry
for answers?Take
the Quiz!

Food Banks Canada Charitable Registration Number: 13064 3737 RR0001 Privacy Policy

Root causes
of hunger.Beyond the
empty plate. Who’s being passed over?Watch
the Video. Hunger in Canada.By the
numbers. A taste
of success.Achievements,
so far. Sign
the Pledge!Say NO
to Hunger. Hungry
for answers?Take
the Quiz!

Root causes of hunger.

Beyond the empty plate.

Here are the facts: Two years after the end of the 2008-09 recession, the number of people seeking help from food banks remains 26% higher than before it began. A fact made even more startling when you consider the abundance of food in this great country of ours. It’s time the 851,000 people who have been relying on local food banks every month no longer need to rely on them. We’re starting a movement to say no to hunger, and yes to a better way of life for all Canadians. Join us!

Getting to the roots of the problem.

There are many root causes of hunger. Poverty, unemployment, and sudden illness are among those that have the greatest impact. Your support will help Food Banks Canada:

develop strategies to combat the effects of root causes of hunger
continue policy research to support our efforts as we make ongoing recommendations to governments at all levels that can effect social change
influence federal policy affecting people facing economic difficulty, including disadvantaged workers and low-income seniors, for example
educate policy makers and opinion leaders so that they better understand the nature of hunger and poverty

Out of work, out of food.

Statistics prove there is a direct correlation between the health of the economy and food bank usage. Jobs in sectors such as manufacturing, forestry, farming, fishing and mining have disappeared since the ’80s and so has food on plates from people working in these areas. Exacerbated by the financial downturn, there are currently 1.4 million unemployed people in Canada.

Child poverty. An age-old problem.

The Canadian government committed itself to resolving childhood poverty in 1989. Unfortunately, twenty-three years later, little has changed: 38% of people receiving assistance from food banks in Canada are children and youth.

Sudden illness, suddenly hungry.

For many, a sudden illness may mean an inability to work full-time, part-time or at all. This loss of income severely limits their ability to feed themselves. The statistics are unhealthy:

On average, families of breast cancer patients, for example, experience a 10% decline in income during treatment periods.
16% of these patients have their jobs terminated, and 20% are forced to quit because of the effects of treatment.
44% of them use their savings to cover medical expenses and make up for lost income, and 27% take on debt.*

*2010 Canadian Breast Cancer Network study

Sign the Pledge!

For every unique pledge Investors Group will donate $1 to Food Banks Canada to a maximum of $25,000.

It may surprise you to know that 851,000 of your fellow Canadians use food banks every month.

In this great country of ours, food is abundant. So nobody should be passed over.

If you agree that hunger in Canada is unacceptable, sign the pledge and support Food Banks Canada as we;

develop strategies to combat the root causes of hunger
influence policies that affect people living in poverty
make recommendations to governments that will effect social change

YES, I’m pledging to Say No To Hunger!

First Name		*
Last Name		*
Street Address		*
City		*
Postal Code	*
Phone Number
Email Address		*

Root causes
of hunger.Beyond the
empty plate. Hunger in Canada.By the
numbers. Food for
thought.Achievements,
so far. Hungry
for answers?Take
the Quiz!

Hunger in Canada.

By the numbers.

The numbers don’t lie. Despite the start of an economic recovery, 851,000 Canadians are continuing to visit food banks every month. In some areas of the country, the number of people needing help has actually increased. It’s time to say no to hunger. Here are just a few of the facts.

The number of people using food banks is 26% higher now than before the recession.
- In fact, it is at the 2nd highest level on record. In addition, 2 million Canadians worry about not having enough food, can’t access foods they’d prefer, or go without food because they don’t have enough for themselves and their families.
More than a third of the people receiving assistance from food banks are children and youth.
Sudden illness can have a significant impact on a person’s ability to earn a living.
- In the case of breast cancer patients, a full 16% have their jobs terminated and 20% are forced to quit because of the effects of treatment.
3.2 million Canadians are living in poverty today.
- Those living in poverty in 1980, on average, saw their dollars go further than those living in poverty today. In addition, unemployment is higher today than in 1980, making it even harder to make ends meet.
14% of seniors who live alone are living in poverty.
- Single seniors living on a fixed income can be especially vulnerable when food prices soar or when any type of unexpected expense comes up.

A taste of success.

Achievements, so far.

Food Banks Canada is addressing the effects of the root causes of hunger such as poverty, unemployment, and sudden illness by raising awareness, conducting research, creating policy recommendations and advocating for real change. Our successes are encouraging, for example, we have:

Published the HungerCount report
- a hard-hitting, accessible study that puts the unacceptable problem of hunger front and centre.
Created timely, compelling research that made the case for increasing pension benefits for Canada’s most vulnerable seniors.
- We used this research as well as our policy paper “Fairness for Canadian Seniors: A Reality Check On Pensions” to advocate strongly for change, and it helped other groups make the case as well. The result? In the 2011 Federal Budget, the government announced an increase to the Guaranteed Income Supplement. This resulted in an additional $600/yr for singles and $840/yr for couples.
Advocated for increases in the Working Income Tax Benefit (WITB)
- through direct action in Ottawa. The WITB has increased, and we continue to work to ensure it truly helps Canadians who need it most.
Supported changes in Employment Insurance (EI)
- to better support Canadians working in non-standard jobs, many of whom are not even eligible for EI benefits if they get sick.
Worked with a number of partners to pressure the federal government to implement a national affordable housing strategy
- so Canadians never have to decide between paying the rent and feeding their families.

These and other achievements are only a taste of successes to come. But we can only accomplish what still needs to be done with your help and support.