I can’t believe it is mid-December already. I hope you and your loved ones are doing well this holiday season.

After Giving Tuesday, we were lucky enough to secure another matching gift for our end-of-year holiday campaign – which means $50,000 of the donations given from now until December 31st will be matched by an anonymous donor! Two matching gift campaigns in a row is not something that happens to us often, so please give now if you haven’t already. Your support will have double the impact at a time of unprecedented demand for our services.

Before the pandemic hit, almost 1 in 5 Toronto households were struggling to keep food on the table. Now, it’s even harder for them to access affordable housing, decent work, and healthy food. Here at The Stop, we’ve seen consistent and high demand for our emergency food services. Since January of this year, we’ve served over 60,000 meals, and 11 months later, we’re projecting to serve 15,000-20,000 more before the end of the year. Low-income communities like ours are most affected by the trauma of food insecurity and poverty – you can hear more about it here from our drop-in volunteer Lorraine. The need is greater than ever; therefore, we believe that helping locally is more important than ever.

That’s why we’re so thankful for the generous support of our donors and community. When we told this anonymous donor about our campaign to raise $100,000 to help provide meals this winter, they stepped up to lend their support. Thanks to that anonymous donor, all new donations will now be doubled until we hit our goal! That means your gift of $25 becomes $50, $75 becomes $150, or even $200 becomes $400.

With the limited government supports scaling back and the unaffordability of this city, we don’t foresee the demand for our services decreasing any time soon. That is why I am writing on our blog to reach out to dedicated supporters like you for help this holiday season.

If you donate once a year or once a month, consider The Stop for your next gift. If you have recently supported us, thank you so much. Please share this email with a few friends looking to make an impact.

Wishing you a warm, happy, and healthy holiday season from all of us at The Stop.

In solidarity, Maria Rio, Director of Development and Communications at The Stop