The Stop Community Food Centre in midtown Toronto is affectionately referred to as the Stop. It started in the 1970s as one of Canada's first food banks. Some 30 years later, it has grown well beyond its roots as a food bank.

"We quickly learned that just handing out food to people on a low income was not the entire solution," says Cheryl Roddick, the Stop's director of development.

"Over the years we've developed a range of programs that teach people how to cook and how to garden and empower them. We don't just give people food and go away."

In fact, the Stop grows about two tons of food for its programs and it recently transformed a derelict Toronto Transit Commission barn into a 10,000-square-foot sustainable greenhouse -- which, in addition to growing food, is used as a teaching facility where staff can teach kids about food and where it comes from.

"In this day and age where we are seeing the incidence of childhood diabetes soaring and people are disconnected from food, we are trying to get them at a young age and teach them about healthy food, where it comes from and how to grow it, how to cook it and advocate for it," Ms. Roddick says. In addition to serving 2,000 people per month in its catchment area, its programs are open to the public and many now represent revenue-generating opportunities for the non-profit agency.

"With the downturn, we are seeing a 20%-to-30% increase in demand for our programs over last year," Ms. Roddick says. "We are seeing people using our food bank that used to give to food banks never thinking they would be on the receiving end. It's startling. It really shows you all it takes is one or two strokes of bad luck for a lot of people who then find themselves unable to feed their families."

This comes at a time when people are giving less. The Stop's revenue is 10% to 15% government funding and 80% to 85% from private sources. To diversify its revenue stream and deal with corporate pullback, the Stop is taking its cue from those same corporations and playing to its strengths.

And so, corporate team-building events in an Iron Chef format seemed like a natural winner.

"Corporations do this anyway, so we thought we can offer a great experience and all the money goes to an amazing non-profit," Ms. Roddick says .

Keith Thomson, managing partner at Toronto financial-planning firm Stonegate Private Counsel LP, couldn't agree more: "We thought Iron Chef would not only be a good way to raise money for the Stop but also build a closer team," Mr. Thomson says. "And that's exactly what it turned out to be. It was a wonderful evening."

But Stonegate's involvement goes well beyond Iron Chef. About 18 months ago, Mr. Thomson and his fellow managing partners decided to get strategic about contributing to their community and focus their efforts on a specific charity: the Stop.

Stonegate is now the lead sponsor of the Stop's fall fundraising event, What's on the Table? And throughout the year it holds its own events for the non-profit and provides time off to staff to allow them to volunteer.

"We hope staff and clients realize this is a financial-planning firm that is not just about making money," Mr. Thomson says. "We are about contributing to the community we've been so lucky to grow up and live in."