Please see the following information regarding our plan for our future operations. There will be an email coming out shortly to further explain the situation in greater detail including plans on next steps and ways in which our community can be more involved to support this initiative.

What happened?
The UofT Emergency Food Bank has temporarily run out of funds. As we await further prospective funding to arrive, this means that we are required to pause our programming for the near future (which may be a few weeks). That being said, there are various resources available in the meantime which we’ve outlined below and can also be found here: https://utfoodbank.tech/additional-resources/.

If at any point you require assistance navigating these resources, please contact us directly.

Resources

- Automated Chatbot that can find food programs based on location (https://chalmers.amplelabs.co/)

- List of approx. 100 local food banks and contact info by postal code (https://www.torontocentralhealthline.ca/listServices.aspx?id=10572)

University Financial Resources:

- UTSU Emergency Bursary: “The Emergency Bursary is available to students who find themselves in sudden financial need, whether that be an inability to pay rent, needing groceries or sudden loss of income. The maximum disbursement is $250.” (https://www.utsu.ca/financial-assistance/)

- COVID-19 Emergency Undergraduate Grant: For domestic and international, part and full-time students facing hardship as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic. (https://future.utoronto.ca/finances/financial-aid/emergency-assistance-grants/)

- School of Graduate Studies Emergency Grant: “The SGS Emergency Grant program aims to provide support to registered, full-time graduate students who, during the course of their program, experience an unforeseen, financial emergency which impacts their ability to continue.” (https://www.sgs.utoronto.ca/awards/sgs-emergency-grant/)

- OISE Emergency Bursary Program: “The OISE Bursary Program provides financial assistance to full-time OISE students who demonstrate financial need.”
(https://www.oise.utoronto.ca/oise/Tuition_and_Financial_Support/OISE_Bursary_Program.html)

- APUS Student Bursaries: Must be a part-time student, deadline to submit for fall is October 18th.
(https://apus.ca/services/scholarships-bursaries/)

- CUPE: Support available for members (https://www.cupe3902.org/resources/)

- Ryerson Good Food Centre (http://www.rsuonline.ca/good-food-centre)

- OPIRG foodbank resource: They have monthly food assistance through their mailing list. Please contact opirg.toronto@gmail.com for more information.

Local government-run resources:

- 211 Central (https://211central.ca/)

- Toronto Central healthline (https://www.torontocentralhealthline.ca/)

There will be an email sent out later today with a more comprehensive explanation of our current situation and future trajectory. We appreciate your understanding during this time and look forward to being able to resume our programming as soon as possible.

Additional financial assistance resources for UofT students and other food relief resources can be found here: https://utfoodbank.tech/additional-resource