Moisson Montréal surpasses their own record with 42,000 holiday food boxes

Moisson Montréal will distribute 42,000 food boxes this year during the holiday season – surpassing their projected target of 35,000.

The announcement was made on Friday at an event at their St-Laurent warehouse, alongside public figures, volunteers, and organization partners. These historic numbers come after the magasins-Partage program supported an additional 7,000 families across Montreal.

“This is something that is very important to us, we do this every year, but demand has grown so much that its a record breaker for us,” said Maggie Borowiec, director of philanthropy at Moisson Montréal.

Food banks in Montreal say more than 15 per cent of the population in the city is suffering from food insecurity, compared to 11 per cent for the rest of Quebec. 

“It was out of the question to leave thousands of families without the support they need this holiday season. We hope that with this initiative, these families will be able to celebrate the holidays with dignity, despite the challenges they face,” said Moisson Montréal Executive Director Chantal Vézina.

Moisson Montréal launched a program that granted 40 bursaries this year – totaling $40,000, as part of it’s 40^th anniversary.

Borowiec said each box is filled with 22 nutritious products that many might take for granted, including meatballs, pasta, couscous, tomato sauce, soup, juice, peanut butter, and rice.

“These holiday baskets are special because they’re meant to tie people over the holidays when some of the agencies are closed and the regular programming is suspended for a few days. But it’s a year-long struggle,” she said.

Volunteer Nick Gomatos said he and his colleagues have volunteered for years and has noticed a sharp increase in demand, though says spirits are always high while packing boxes.

“We know that holidays are a tough time for some families, unfortunately, and therefore this is why we come here to prepare all these little boxes for these people so they can benefit and have a more joyous holiday season,” Gomatos said.

“We know we’re helping people,” he said. “We see the amount of boxes that we produce, there’s pallets that get piled up with these boxes and we know that all these boxes are going to end up in somebody’s home.”

Though this event is once a year, the work and dedication to plan and help is 365 days a year, as Borowiec anticipates more donations will be needed for next years event.

Representatives encourage those who need help to contact 2 1 1 – a free helpline and web service, that connects people to community and social services of greater Montreal, in over 200 languages.

“There is a limit to how much more we can do,” Borowiec said. “It’s really important to hammer again the message that governments need to step up with attacking the root causes of why there is more food insecurity.”